Beware the Ice Queen
by A.Fox
Summary: It's been six months since Lucy attempted suicide, and the Ice Queen's been terrorizing crooks for four of them. But now she has to deal with both her personal life...and a mysterious figure who calls himself the Cryptic. Update: The epic conclusion to the Cryptic Arc is finished.
1. Kings and Queens

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl, and the plot for this first storyline is based after the first story that ever featured the Joker, this prologue takes place shortly after chapter 68 of Bittersweet Candy Bowl, AKA December.)

DECEMBER 25th, 2012: 11:47

It was a cold day in Roseville, most people chose to stay indoors and enjoy the company of others, or in some cases just go out and get drunk.

Poor Lucy didn't have either option.

She'd had what was without a doubt the worst night of her life, her heart was broken by a boy she thought was her friend, who also claimed that nobody else would want her, she could have tried to see if he was right but feeling the way she did now she didn't care.  
All she cared about was heading over to a bridge and ending this trouble once and for all.

She'd walked for some time now and she'd finally neared the bridge.

Lucy was alone (or so she thought) when she neared the edge of the bridge, she looked down at the large drop between the pavement and the ice that'd spell an end to her troubles.

She looked to her left and right to make sure nobody was looking, and as soon as she was sure nobody was around she began to climb over the railing and was about to leap into oblivion... when she felt a wire wrapping around her arm!  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, if someone else had seen this they'd think you were doing harikari."  
The voice sounded as if it was laughing at her, mocking her for her troubles, and at this Lucy growled and turned to see just who had shown up.

The person who addressed her was a man, one who was wearing a grey outfit, it consisted of a longcoat, a fedora (or something similar), grey pants, a grey shirt, grey gloves, and a balaclava with red lenses covering the eyeholes and a sort of gasmask over his mouth and nose, and (no surprise here) it was grey as well.  
"Young lady, I don't know who you are, but do you have any idea of what you're doing?"  
"I-I-I know full well what I'm doing... I'm putting an end to- "

"Hold on kiddo, why would you want to- oh" the man had stood a little at attention as if he just realized something, he bent down again and asked a different question "you weren't heartbroken were you?"  
Lucy began to sob again after being reminded of what Mike had done to her earlier, the man muttering "I'll take that as a yes."  
The mysterious figure stood up at attention and took a look into Lucy's face, it took the cat about a couple minutes or so before she noticed he was staring at her.

"W-what" she wiped away some of her tears before speaking again "are you doing?"  
"I can see your spirit kiddo" the man replied "it's untrained but I can see it, the soul of a warrior waiting to be born."  
Lucy was confused, she didn't think of herself as anything tough, much less a warrior (though she acted like she was something else at times.)  
"I've dealt with heartbreak in the past too" the man continued, not waiting for a response "but let me tell you this, it's not worth dying over, though it does feel bad.  
"But there's an easy way out of it, if you're stronger, you can stop feeling like shit over ruined relationships."

"And how am I going to do that?" Lucy asked, finally speaking to the mysterious man.

"I could train you, you have quite a bit of potential and if you vented your rage towards the criminal scum that rules the streets, you could put your frustration to good use, plus the job of crime fighting can do numbers for one's self esteem."  
"So how about it? Will you join me?"  
Lucy had been moved by the man's speech, and, by the heat of moment made a choice that put her on a new path…

SIX MONTHS LATER, LUCY'S HOUSE

"IT'S MINE I TELL YOU!"  
Lucy sprung up from the nap she'd been taking, Yashy had been trying to get the TV remote from Chirpy again and had woken the teenaged cat up.

It had been some time since she agreed to become Longcoat's (the name of her then-mysterious savior and now mentor) apprentice, and during this time she'd learned quickly enough to even surprise her master.

Still, while she'd grown rather strong she was nowhere near his power level, though he did believe she was good enough to fight crime without his help at times, he even gave her an outfit she could use and gave her the handle of Ice Queen.

The handle was rather fitting as she was serious as opposed to the vigilante from another world, who tended to crack jokes at the expense of whoever was fighting him.

Lucy blinked again and realized she was still rather sleepy and decided to try and catch some more sleep, but just as she began to nod off something happened.

The TV's screen suddenly changed to a simple grey background with a question mark taking up place in the center of it.

"What the- the cable must be whacked or something" Yashy muttered, attempting to change the channel by means of remote…only to learn that it was on every channel.  
"Greetings you insipid couch monkeys" a computerized voice rang out, the cold tone giving Lucy a small sense of uneasiness.  
"I have interrupted your little "quality time" to issue a simple message."  
"At exactly twelve o'clock, midnight, I will kill Henry Claridge and steal the Claridge diamond! Any attempt to stop me will be futile, so I'd advise everyone out not to try it, this is not a personal attack or a threat, merely a promise. The Cryptic has spoken!"  
When this was finished the screen changed back to a show about a sadistic doctor, as if the station hadn't been hijacked to issue a death threat.

"What the Hell was that about?" Yashy muttered "I was missing my- where are you going girl-kitty?"  
Lucy stopped her attempt to go out the door to answer Yashy's question "I have an errand to run."

Upon answering this she ducked outside and snuck off to a secluded area.

In a way she was telling the truth, she was going to run an errand, what she didn't tell the bird is that she was going to out to stop a maniac…as the Ice Queen.


	2. Mutual Sight, Mutual Sound

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

CLARIDGE'S HOUSE 11:55  
It had been three hours and 55 minutes since Lucy had left the house.  
Lucy was currently crouched down inside a tree, clad in her heroine outfit (which looked just like Longcoat's, except her balaclava lacked a gas mask and there was a hole for her tail, plus she lacked the hat too) and was watching into the house of Henry Claridge.  
The police wasted no time in putting a cordon around the dog that the so called "Cryptic" said he would kill, they even got the superhero known as the "Silver Sentinel" to help them guard him.  
Lucy knew full well who the Sentinel was, and it was for that reason (not wanting to get anywhere near Mike for a long time after December, she even went out of his way to avoid him at times) that she'd chosen to hide and watch what happened, the listening device she held helped her listen in on what was going on.

Fortunately enough for Lucy Longcoat's training on how to hide in the shadows was working better than she thought, she remembered how he trained her very clearly, but was trying more to concentrate at the task at hand.  
It was 11:59 now, only one minute left to go and from the looks of things Claridge was freaking out about the fact Midnight was nearing.  
There was an air of tension as the seconds dragged on to Midnight, when suddenly…  
"I'M STILL ALIVE!" Claridge yelled out in glee, midnight having came and the dog was still alive "I'M NOT DEAD! I'M SAFE! I'M SAA- ARRRGH!"  
Lucy sprung up, and her eyes sprang open widely as she realized that Claridge had just died.  
"What the?" she heard Mike's voice remark through the bug "Claridge is dead!"  
"That's impossible!" another voice who Lucy recognized as the chief of police said "And yet…"  
"Chief, look, his fur!" another voice remarked.  
Lucy (from her view in the tree, which was about or twenty feet from the room Claridge had been in and had a window she was looking into with binoculars) looked on in surprise as she saw Claridge's fur begin to get covered in black spots that resembled question marks, she found the whole sight unsettling for some reason.  
"What the Hell? His fur is covered in question marks!"  
"Whoever we're dealing with has a sick sense of humor..." the chief muttered "Somebody check the diamond, if Claridge is dead the Cryptic must have the diamond."  
Lucy noticed that Mike had moved over to a wall safe and proceed to open it, revealing a rather large diamond, "The Diamond!" one of the police exclaimed "The Cryptic didn't steal it after all."  
"Oh he stole it alright" the chief muttered "this thing is made of glass!" it was then though that he noticed something else in the safe "What the Hell?"  
He reached in and pulled out a small white card with a question mark on it: the sign of The Cryptic.  
Lucy growled under her breath, as soon as she got her hands on whoever did this heinous crime, they'd wish the Punisher had found them instead.  
And speaking of said culprit…

THE CRYPTIC'S HEADOUT, 1: 47 AM  
"…And if anyone has any information pertaining to the murder of Henry Claridge, please call police chief Duncan-"  
The TV switched off, the plasma screen seeming a bit out of place in the room, it was full of fine art and furniture like some sort of lounge for rich idiots with no day job at all and behind an oak workdesk sat a teenaged cat in a leather longcoat, top hat, black pants and monocle,: The Cryptic himself.  
The villain smirked to himself as he flicked open a case that contained the diamond "The Claridge Diamond, MINE! Those fools in the police, and their idiotic friend the Silver Sentinel would love to know how I managed it, how I wish I could just yell it in their stupid faces!" The villain muttered, gloating to himself.  
"It was simple, I merely injected a poison into Claridge while he slept, and I'd engineered it so it killed in exactly twenty-four hours so he'd die when I said he would, and when I did that I also copped the diamond to boot, I was merely broadcasting a crime that had already been done."  
He put the tape recorder closer to his face as he said these last words to it "If the law expects to plat against the Cryptic, they had best be prepared to be dealt from the bottom of the deck."

LONGCOAT'S HIDEOUT, HUMAN'S EARTH, 3:28  
Lucy drummed her fingers as she waited for the flesh analysis to finish.  
Heading to Longcoat's headquarters was a tad easier than you'd think, he'd built a two way doorway in her basement and disguised it as a section of wall that was easy to remove, provided you were clever enough to notice it.  
Lucy had snuck into Claridge's house when the police weren't looking, and (barely managing to avoid the detection of the three police officers in the room) snipped off a clump of the man's flesh and fur to analyze it.  
Lucy was sitting down in a rather large chair Longcoat kept in his hideout, it used to belong to a diamond smuggler named Carlos but despite the fact that Longcoat supposedly burned down the man's house, it was in surprisingly good shape.  
Just before the computer informed her it was finished, a small creature the size of a housecat lept up on her.  
The creature was named Clover and was once more than three hundred feet tall, it was supposedly very, very old despite being as large as it once was, yet it had a brain comparable to that of a puppy.  
Longcoat had found the monster during the first year of his career, it was trying to destroy New York at the time and he'd somehow found out that it was just a baby, after learning this he shrank it and chose to take it as a pet.  
"Working hard or hardly working, eh Lucy?" Longcoat himself said, walking into the room.  
The human vigilante proceeded to pull a chair from behind his back (hammerspace) and took a seat next to his sidekick.  
"Nice fur, where'd you get the pelt?" he asked "And more importantly, why's it covered in question marks?"  
Lucy groaned "It's a long story, a new supervillain came to Roseville and threatened to murder Henry Claridge."  
"Who?"  
"He's a shipping magnate that owns a famed diamond, anyways, long story short, the man killed Claridge and stole his diamond, I don't even know how he did it."  
"Oh there are many ways to do things grasshopper" the human said, reaching his hand down to stroke Clover "there are several ways to get somebody killed, so how'd this guy die?"  
"He was poisoned, but with what I don't know"  
"Hmm, and when did he die?"  
"Midnight, just as the Cryptic said he would.  
Longcoat blinked, though due to his mask it was fairly hard to tell "The Cryptic? That's what he calls himself eh? Did you see him?"  
"No" Lucy said, her voice lowering a little "he didn't even show up, somehow he'd stolen the diamond before the police got there, which was also when Claridge was likely poisoned."  
"Well, I can make theories as to how he did it" Longcoat said "but I'm bushed and need to go nod off."

Lucy still remembered how shocked she was when she saw for the first time that the masked guy who had saved her was some kind of weird looking alien with so little fur...  
Longcoat stood up from his chair and pulled off his mask, the man proceeding to walk over to the way he'd came in, taking his costume off as he left "See you later Luc', I got an appointment with the Sandman."  
"Goodbye… master" his apprentice replied.  
"Enough with the formalities my girl, I told you before…call me Alex."

LUCY'S HOUSE: 6:30 PM, THE NEXT DAY

Lucy lounged back on the couch as she flipped between the channels.

At around four AM the previous day she had discovered that Claridge was killed by a new kind of poison that took exactly 24 hours to kill, she also came to the conclusion that police would likely figure out the same.

She'd decided to start watching the TV until she got another clue as to the Cryptic's next move, because if he had the ego to announce his plans by hijacking the TV channels, she doubted he wouldn't try it again.

In the meanwhile she chose to find something she liked until the Crypic struck again, and at the moment had just stumbled on a broadcasted beauty pageant and was about to change the channel again when she noticed a familiar face.

Sandy.

Yes, Sandy was on televison, the girl who'd nearly caused Lucy to kill herself was on televison, and to make matters worse for the vigilante she could clearly see Mike looking on at his girlfriend in the audience.  
Lucy hadn't forgotten what Mike did to her, not by a longshot, hence why she had a tendency to avoid him no matter what she was doing (today she once even climbed out a window to avoid him).  
With a grunt of disgust she was about to change the channel when the screen began to warp and change to the same question mark image she saw two days ago… when the Cryptic first introduced himself.

"Hello again you blithering idiots, in exactly one hour, I will kill Jay Wilde and steal the Ronker's Ruby, as before this crime cannot be prevented so if you try to stop me, prepare to lose. The Cryptic has spoken!"  
Lucy hurriedly flipped off the TV and began to walk off to the door.

The Cryptic may have won the first round, but Lucy was determined not to let him have the last laugh.


	3. Going In For the Kill

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

FLASHBACK: FIVE MONTHS AGO, LONGCOAT'S HIDEOUT

"Why do you spray your outfits with that stuff?" Lucy asked her mentor, referring to the bizarre substance he tended to put on his outfit.

Alex (AKA Longcoat) looked up from the work he was doing on his costume and told his sidekick "This "stuff" is nanotechnology, the design of which is similar to the T-spheres used by one Micheal Holt, AKA , the purpose of this stuff is to make me invisible to machines."  
Lucy was only confused by this "And just how good is that? Wouldn't it be better to make yourself invisible to people?"  
"No, if you learn to rely on being unseen by people too much, if the technology ever stops working you won't be able to sneak around at all" Alex replied, putting the airbrush he used to apply it to the suit.  
"Then why cloak yourself from machines?"

"Because it's harder to sneak by them, and being undetected by them is the best way to deal with them, though it only works on X-ray devices and heat sensing machines, I haven't worked out the rest of the bugs yet you see."  
Lucy looked down at the table Alex was using to spray his suit and watched as he began to apply the nanites again when she noticed something odd about it.

"Hey! Where's your gas mask?"  
"My gas mask?" the 'Demon of the Underworld' chuckled "This isn't my outfit…"

He reached over to the balaclava on this new outfit and picked up his hat…which had been covering a pair of ear holes, and the holes were just the size for Lucy's.

"It's yours my young apprentice."

PRESENT TIME, ROOFTOP OF THE GREYSTONE BUILDING

"It's yours" Lucy repeated to herself as she crouched down behind the air conditioner she was hiding behind, reminding herself of the day she got her costume

Lucy had managed to get to the building across from Jay Wilde's penthouse in about forty five minutes (she got way laid for about ten minutes after running into a gang of would be rapists, who were now coughing up most their teeth.)

Climbing up the building took an extra ten minutes, and she'd been waiting for three minutes to boot, regardless of the time, she'd made it there before Wilde was supposed to die and that was all that mattered.

She peeked around it and pulled out her binoculars, proceeding to then look into the penthouse to see how things had gone.

The police had rushed there pretty fast, she couldn't even see in through normal means as they'd drawn the blinds to keep out sniper bullets, but the infrared vision function on the binoculars showed that there were ten heat signatures in the rooms, and she could tell the one with the highest signature was Wilde's, and he was surrounded by about eight signatures, who she deduced were the police, another, who she assumed was another police officer, had a very low heat signature and was in a corner of the room.

The last one though she realized was none other than Mike, though she didn't know for sure.

Raising an eyebrow, Lucy pressed a button on the side of the binoculars and used it's long distance hearing features to eavesdrop.

"…The clock, the clock is ticking my life away!" The terrified Wilde shrieked, the fatal hour of Ten o'clock nearing by about a minute.

"Don't worry mister Wilde" another voice, who Lucy recognized as Mike said "Nobody is going to kill you while I'm around."  
"I highly doubt that" Lucy muttered "You didn't fare too well yesterday."  
"There's about seven officers around you for protection, including Commissioner Duncan, and then there's me and the four dozen other officers on the lower floors."

"Seven?" Lucy exclaimed aloud "Then who's in the corner?"  
As if in answer she noticed that whoever was in the corner had just began to raise his arm up at Mike.

About a second later she heard something else that made her realize exactly who was in the armor.

She couldn't see what happened for sure but she did hear Mike yell.  
"WHAT THE HELL? My suit isn't-"

He proceeded to fall over on his back and immediately two officers rushed over to him, "There's something on the Sentinel" she could hear one say "It appears to be stuck to him, like some kind of magnet."  
About five seconds later she heard a clock inside chime about ten times, heralding the fact it was Ten at last.

"TEN! It's going to happen now!" Wilde shrieked "It's going to- ACK!"  
Wilde proceeded to topple over and the officers began to rush to him…only to began toppling over themselves.

Lucy had seen enough, now it was time to get into action.

As she began to rise up though, she didn't watch the cat in the corner beginning to move.

The Cryptic smirked as he removed the suit of armor he'd been hiding in, hiding in there was easy enough (especially since Wilde's butler was a tad hard of hearing, and his maid had recently quit due to Wilde's refusal to pay alimony) though in case the Sentinel could sense heartbeats he had ingested a drug that reduced his heartbeat to almost nothing until a minute or so before Ten, leaving him completely undetected in Wilde's library.

He whipped out his tape recorder and began to speak into it "The police should consider themselves lucky I only used knock-out gas on them, I needed them alive to testify that it was me who killed Wilde."  
He walked over to a wall and knocked down the painting that was covering a safe, a safe that contained the Ronker's Ruby.

"Granted the Sentinel's involvement would be hard to stop as he would have most likely been able to filter the gas, so I used a small but very powerful magnet to disrupt his suit's functions, of course it was only a guess but it appears that it worked and now he can't get up, still though, he's probably conscious so I'd better hope he doesn't recognize my voice."

He'd gained the ruby by now and was standing over Wilde, the cat's fur having gained the same look as poor old Claridge had, but now had gained a rictus grin due to a new ingredient in the formula.  
"But you Wilde, you had the concentrated pose of my mystery-venom on the blown dart I used to kill you eh? Didn't you eh? Are you so happy that you smile for joy eh? I'm glad to have brought you such cheer" he said, mocking the now dead cat.

The Cryptic waltzed over to the door to leave the room, and reached into his pocket to pull out a black disk, he flicked it open to turn it into his trademark top hat and tipped it over to the police officers he'd knocked out.  
"Thank you all players" he said, speaking into his recorder "You have me very happy too! We shall meet again!"

Just as he turned around though he heard smashing glass from behind him and turned to face it, making sure to tip his hat down to keep his face in the shadows.

Right in front of the now shattered windows and saw that standing in front of them was a young lady who wore a grey outfit that covered up all but her jaw and ears (which were sticking out of holes at the top) and she was staring right at him.  
"Ah" the Cryptic muttered, adjusting his monocle "You must be the new girl."

THREE MINUTES EARLIER

As Lucy began to walk towards Wilde's apartment she reached her right hand behind her back so she could access Hammerspace.

Bringing it back to her sight she looked at the grappling hook pistol in her right, this maneuver would be tricky and she had to be careful about this.

Standing up at the edge of the building she took aim at Wilde's windows and firing off a grappling hook into Wilde's room.

Boldly she leapt off the roof she was on (a floor below Wilde's apartment) and allowed the miniature motor in her gun to pull her up to the room.

She burst through the window and rolled in, just as a teenaged cat was about to walk out a door out of the room, he wore a leather jacket (which looked oddly familiar), leather pants, and a top hat.

The cat turned, being careful to tip his hat so the shadows could hide his face from her "Ah" he said "You must be the new girl."  
Lucy's eyes narrowed under her mask, something seemed familiar about this cat something about his voice…and that jacket, where had she seen that before?  
Ignoring her curiosity she said "The Cryptic I presume."  
"You presume right good lady, and I assume that you are the 'Ice Queen' I have heard so much about?"  
Lucy groaned inwardly 'You mention your name once and the entire underworld calls you it' then glared up at the villain "I don't need to talk to scum like you."  
"Technically you are" The Cryptic pointed out "Still though, I've got a schedule to keep so TTGFH, Time To Get the Fuck outta Here."

The Cryptic hurriedly spun around and bolted out of the door, but Lucy wasn't slow, no sooner did he duck out the door, Lucy took up in hot pursuit.

No sooner did she run out, she saw the Cryptic running down a conveniently placed corner, the hall was filled with fine art and sculptures, ironically the owner was no longer around to enjoy them, despite the millions he'd poured into it.

Rushing around the other corner she saw that Wilde's koala butler (who had been going up to see what was going on) was just clotheslined by Cryptic.

"Sorry gramps" the Cryptic said "But I've got to escape now, nothing personal."

Lucy roared forward, making sure to leap over the butler (who was currently in the process of picking himself up off the floor) and continued her pursuit of the Cryptic down the hall.

About ten feet away from the butler Cryptic had pulled out some kind of small device from his pocket and pushed a button on it, Lucy wondered why…but not for long.

An explosion rocked the hall as some explosives the Cryptic had placed earlier for his escape plan went off and created a very large hole in the wall.

The Cryptic turned to face Lucy, tipping his hat to hide his face in the shadows, and pulled something out of his pocket.

He made a small smirk before saying something to Lucy, who was about two feet away from him now.

"Auf Wiedersehen" he said, before whispering one shocking word.

"Lucy."  
The young girl stopped dead in her tracks when she heard this, how did he know who she was, then again she never did bother to disguise her voice, but still how could he have known?  
Cryptic used this shock as a distraction to drop the device he was holding and jumped out the hole in the wall, within seconds light had filled up the hall and a buzzing noise filled up the hall.

Lucy was stumbling around blindly, ducking down to the floor and not moving until the lights began to dim and her vision was normal, took about thirty minutes to do.

Once those thirty seconds were over she looked out the window and saw nobody there or anybody flying out.

Lucy didn't know who the Cryptic was but she knew this…he knew who she was, and she had to be ready for war!

The Cryptic smiled to himself, the gliding longcoat he'd built worked perfectly, he'd landed on a building two blocks away and got the extensions on it closed, looking both ways to make sure that nobody would see him he walked over to a bag he's left at a chimney he pulled out one of his canes and another top hat.

He pulled out his tape recorder and spoke into it "The Ice Queen has finally showed up…this next job might be even more fun than I thought it'd be."

PACKER BROTHERS WAREHOUSE, 3:50 AM

"So let me get this straight, this so called "Cryptic" stole the Ronker's Ruby?"  
"Y-y-yeah boss" a small lobster gangster said, cowering before the leader of his gang.

"I can't believe it, I set the gang up to steal that hunk of rock and then some new guy comes in and steals it, just like he did to the Claridge Diamond, and I wanted that too."

The boss stood up from the chair he was in, and leaned up against one of the crates full of lab equipment the warehouse was full of, "take this down boy.  
"Tell the members of my gang to get this message passed around, that I think the Cryptic is a coward and an amateur, and that his mother makes a living on her back, make sure that's spread around everywhere."  
"I got it, but why do you want us to do that?"  
"I want to trap this bastard before he leaves us nothing to steal, if we insult him enough he'll come right to us and we'll be waiting for him when he does."  
"Ah I see, got it boss."  
"Oh please" the cat said, standing up "don't be so formal…call me Alejandro."


	4. Doing it for a Thrill

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

ROSEVILLE TAVERN, 2:34 AM

Alejandro leaned up on the backdoor to the bar he tended to hang out by as he repeated the plan to him in his head.

The idea was to wait near his favorite hangout and wait for the Cryptic to show up, at which point he'd call out his gang and the Cryptic could be blown to shit, it was simple, effective, and best of all, music to his-

"Penny for your thoughts…Alejandro."  
The gangster hurriedly spun to his right and saw a cat in a leather jacket (which looked oddly familiar), leather pants, and a top hat. The Cryptic himself had appeared.

"Yeah, GET HIM BOYS!"  
On cue, the place filled up with gangsters, three cats entered the allyway with a lobster, all of them brandishing clubs of some sort, on the roof three dogs leaned over and pointed guns at the criminal mastermind.  
"I don't know how you snuck up on me in this allyway" Alejandro said, beginning to gloat "since this is a dead end and all, but I don't care about that, all I'm concerned with is making you bleed, you lousy punk."  
"Before you start getting your hands bloody, shouldn't you at least give me a chance to reveal who I am" The Cryptic said, confidence in his voice for some reason.  
"It's not like I'll recognize you when I'm done or anything" Alejandro retorted  
"Oh I highly doubt that" The Cryptic said, removing his hat and giving Alejandro a good look at his face, and boy was the gangster shocked at who he saw.  
"YOU!"  
"Yes, it's me, I do apologize for spoiling your fun but those gems were the easiest target to find at the moment and I wanted to start out small."  
"You call stealing those hunks of rock small?" Alejandro yelled "Do you have any idea what I'm going to-"

"Hold on Al" The Cryptic said "let's haggle, I know you want my head for pissing you off but I have something that's worth far more than those mere trinkets, if you forgive me and meet me at the St. Nicky's toy factory at ten o'clock PM tomorrow, I'll give you it, do we have a deal?"  
The gangster stroked his chin in thought "tempting, but I'll take the offer, just one more thing, why the Hell did you choose to turn into this?"  
"Well it's a long story…"

Lucy crept up the wall of a tavern named St. Elmo's Fire, making sure not to make even the tiniest sound, lest she alert the gunmen sooner than she wanted.

She'd heard about Alejandro's insulting the Cryptic, and as much as she would have liked to have just let him gut Alejandro she also knew that this might be her best chance to capture the bastard (Cryptic) before anybody else died.

Scaling a brick wall using just your hands was hard to most but Lucy's claws helped her climb up quickly, Longcoat himself admitted to using artificial claws to climb but was still able to teach her how to ascend the walls, but also taught her how to do so slowly so she could sneak up on people through climbing.

Getting to the roof, Lucy looked and saw three dogs, one brown, one black and one grey. All of them were holding weapons, the grey cat held an assault rifles while the other two wielded handguns.

The black dog was about ten feet away from the other two and appears to be beginning to nod off, he didn't even know Lucy had snuck up on him until she came up and bashed his head against the roof, knocking him unconscious.

The noise drew the attention of the grey cat that chose to investigate, leaving the brown dog by himself, Lucy had carefully zipped right behind the mutt and as soon as he saw his fallen comrade Lucy placed a chloroform soaked rag over his snout and he fell quieter than the other one, though not as quick.

The brown dog though had chosen to sit up on the roof edge and had pulled out a joint; Lucy however had chosen to cut his enjoyment short with a tranquilizer dart.

Lucy was quite proud with herself, until she realized that she'd forgotten one of Longcoat's lessons "If you're gonna shoot some asshole, you better make damn sure you know where he falls."  
Presently the stoner she attacked was falling over backwards, and would doubtless alert the enemy to her presence upstairs.

Acting quickly, the Ice Queen leapt right over there and grabbed the stoner before he could fall, laying him on his face and well out of the sight of the others.

Pleased with how this had turned out, she took a position on the roof and began eavesdropping…only to realize that she should have been a tad more careful when she was up on the roof, because she overheard this from a voice she recognized as the Cryptic.

"…Later, for now I want to ask, did you recruit anybody else with white fur and not tell me?"  
"No" Alejandro replied "why do you ask?" though he had a good idea as to what he meant.  
"Because I just saw a white tail flash from the roof, and I'm pretty sure it's the Ice Queen's."

This incurred a…interesting reaction among the thugs, and by interesting I mean she could hear that they were beginning to run off.  
Well she couldn't have that so quick as a flash; she ran over to the other end of the roof and leapt into the way of the escaping thugs, trapping them in the allyway.

It's said that when one corners an animal, that's when the animal is most dangerous, and that's usually true…in this case though, the opposite was the case.

One of the thugs (a brown cat with black spots) ran right at her with a baseball bat and attempted to bash her head in, the swing was fairly clear and Lucy merely ducked under it to avoid the blow.

She chose to follow this up with a punch to the cat's chest; she could feel his ribs crack from the force of the blow.

At the left side of the man came a black cat that was drawing back for a punch, thinking quickly Lucy threw the brown cat into the way of his partner and made the punch go right into the poor guy.

Zipping past them Lucy casually grabbed the black cat and smashed his head into a wall, knocking him out and leaving her free for the other two.

Coming her way were a short lobster and a tall cat who has built a very large fridge, so taking up a fighting stance she went about a very careful form of attack.

Lucy leapt right up into the air when the large cat tried to grab her, flipping through the air she brought the back of her foot down on the cat's head, then, while he was disoriented, Lucy grabbed him by his shirt and flipped him over her head.

The lobster had seen enough by now and tried to run off while she was busy with the big cat, but didn't go far before a bullet flew through his leg.

Lucy put the gun she'd used back into hammerspace and looked up to see the back entrance to the bar closing, Alejandro and the Cryptic were nowhere to be seen so Lucy assumed they ran in there.

Taking no hesitation, Lucy hurriedly sped into the bar and entered the kitchen, noticing that the door into the bar itself was swinging shut she continued moving through the building.

When she got into the main part she found the door was from behind the counter, and her appearance appeared to surprise several patrons, ignoring them she leapt over the counter and noticed that the door to leave had just closed, assuming it was due to Alejandro and the Cryptic she ran right towards it (pausing a second to uppercut somebody who'd tried to pull a gun on her), intent on capturing the villains.

No sooner did she roar out the bar then she saw a bizarre sight, the Cryptic was on the other side of the street, but unlike earlier he was holding an ornate cane and wasn't even trying to run, Alejandro was running down the end of the street but the Cryptic was right in front of her, his hat obscuring his face in the shadows.

And now she was going to find out who he was.

"Ah, I can see you're determined to get me, I would expect nothing less from you…Lucy."  
Lucy grit her teeth in frustration but swallowed her pride because she was about to have him out of her hair.

She began to stomp over to him, making sure there were no cars to hit her and growled "How the fuck do you know who I am?

"Oh that was easy, you didn't put too much effort into changing your voice, true you did alter the pitch somewhat but not enough to trick me" The Cryptic explained.

"Plus" he added "I saw you in that outfit five months ago when you tore up a drug dealer's house, and studied up on all the white furred girls in the area who'd have a reason to fight crime.

"The thing is though, I didn't know who you were for sure until a month ago, when I got around to staking out your house I saw you leaving was consistent with the Ice Queen's appearances, the last thing I needed to do was merely to sneak into your room and read your diary, hard to do I admit, even harder to do without leaving any trace of my presence or alerting your pets…but it was all worth it."

Lucy had finally had enough of the mastermind "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?" She yelled loudly.  
"Hmph, you didn't need to be rude, I was going to show you anyways" the Cryptic reached for his hat and lifted it off, revealing the face beneath.

Lucy had wondered who he was earlier, and why his voice and coat seemed familiar, when she saw his white hair though she realized just why it seemed so familiar, she knew the Cryptic after all.  
"Augustus? Why did you do all this?" the surprised Lucy said to the criminal, shocked that the answer was right under her nose this whole time.  
Augustus smirked "Well let me tell you something Lucy, we aren't so different after all."  
"HOW?"

"Because you were motivated by heartbreak and so was I…"


	5. Now The Nightmare's Real

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

"Heartbreak is a painful experience isn't it Lucy?" Augustus smugly stated, leaning up against his cane as he did so "When the heart's deprived of happiness and love there's no telling what it'll do.

"After all, you're standing here in that outfit" he added, pointing to Lucy's costume "and to think all I needed for mine was this hat and a monocle, such differing tastes in fashion."  
"Quit it" Lucy growled "Why the Hell did you do this? You yourself told me you only wanted Daisy to be happy."  
Lucy saw something she hadn't before when Augustus heard that name, a mild twitch, it was small enough to have previously remained unnoticed but she caught it this time.

"That may be true, but what did you think I did before I came to that conclusion, eh Lucy?

"I was broken that day, those who saw me would never have guessed my heart was broken, I'm not stupid enough to think it was worth dying over though, at the advice of my old boss Alejandro I got a coping mechanism…in this case strategy games.

His smirk rose even further as he got onto this much more preferred subject "to my surprise I took to the idea of plotting and directing action on the battlefield rather well, no matter what game I had, or what difficulty I used I always was smart enough to win.

"The games improved my ability to plan significantly but about three months of this I grew tired of mere games and desired an actual challenge, so I took to crime.

"I started out with small time stuff, forming elaborate plans to knock off convenience stores, forming flash mobs, and eventually arranging deaths.

"But after awhile this itself proved boring, but I continued even after I finally got over Daisy and decided to let her be."  
"And you became the Cryptic why?" Lucy growled.

"Because I was inspired, it was four months ago when the Silver Sentinel first appeared and you were just thought to be a myth, I saw the supervillains that rose to fight him and came to the conclusion that this was my calling.

"Styling myself after some of the villains from Gotham City I made an identity with which to menace the police, and superheroes, and to be honest I hoped somebody smarter than Mike would come along to fight.

"Thus I stand before you as a Cryptic and a crook, tested by time and twice as lethal, with a dept that needs to be paid."  
"Try paying it from jail, I didn't think you'd turn into something like this but it doesn't matter, your ass is going to a cell and staying there."  
"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy…"

"And quit calling me by my fucking name!"  
"Ah yes, secret identities and all that, well regardless I have something for you.

"For such a pretty face and smart brain you certainly don't seem to get it yet, I intended for this to happen."  
Without warning he quickly drew up his cane and somehow activated a five inch blade in the bottom of it

"En garde" the villain taunted.

Lucy quickly put herself in a fighting stance just as Augustus attempted to impale her chest on the blade he'd just released.

She attempted to grab it only for him to pull it back and attempt to gore her head with it, dodging this with just as much ease as she did the last strike and proceeded to punch him in the ribs.

Augustus staggered back a couple feet due to the blow, but he still seemed to be alright, if Lucy didn't know any better she'd swear he was wearing body armor, otherwise that blow would have broken at least one of his ribs.

The cane though had landed a foot away from Augustus, and Lucy chose then to charge him while his weapon was out of hand, nearing him she drew back her fist in an attempt to punch him, only for Augustus to actually catch it.

The gothic supervillain smirked "did you actually think I was helpless without my- ACK!"  
"You talk too much" Lucy growled, having used his momentary distraction to kick him in the nuts.

"M-maybe so" he muttered, managing to stand despite the pain "But you talk too little."  
Augustus proceeded to deliver a punch of his own at Lucy, one fast enough to catch her off guard long enough to sweep his leg over and trip her over.  
The goth stood over Lucy and reached into his pocket for something, though he should've been a little more careful because of the fact Lucy quickly hooked her foot around his leg and tripped him up too.

While the villain staggered back Lucy sprang up to her feet and tried to kick Augustus, though this missed him as well.

The fight continued like this for several minutes, and consisted of them attempting to hit eachother and it wasn't easy to lay a fist on the other though they did do it sometimes.

Of course, the fight was beginning to wear the two down, and while Lucy was trained to fight for longer amounts of time than she could have before the Cryptic wasn't and he was wearing down sooner than she though.

Or at least she though that, she'd let her guard down for just a second when Augustus quickly delivered a kick to her stomach and knocked the Ice Queen down.

No sooner had she fallen, then Augustus zipped right up in her face, using one of his hands to hold her right arm down and pointing a crossbow at her head.  
"You know Lucy, I honestly thought you'd have wanted to be on top, seems I was wrong about that" joked the murderer, a second or two after he spoke he proceeded to shoot Lucy in the right arm with the crossbow.

Standing up, the smooth criminal proceeded to stand up and pull his monocle out of his pocket "If you have any questions as to why you are still breathing, it is simply because I have another crime to commit, and I want to see if you're actually a worthy adversary, currently you cannot move and will be immobile for ten minutes which is enough time to escape.  
"It'll be easy, all I'm after are the water orbs of an African queen in the sky.

"You have thirty minutes before I start the crime up, more than enough time for you to come up and stop me."  
He tipped his hat at her and grabbed his cane before he proceeded to walk off, humming a merry tune to himself as he did so, heading towards his next scheme.

As she lay there, Lucy thought long and hard about what he meant by the 'water orbs' he reffered to.

It took her about ten minutes to realize what he meant.

And boy was he going to wish he'd just shot her.

(Can you guess what kind of thing Augustus referred to? If it's difficult to figure out…well there's a good reason why he calls himself The Cryptic.)


	6. Heartbreak Warfare

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

OTTO DREXEL'S PENTHOUSE, 3:02 AM

Otto Drexel made a fortune off of electronic engineering, and was a fan of jewels and valulable trinkets…especially pearls.

The prize of his collection was the Cleopatra Necklace which was worth one hundred dollars, it wasn't the most expensive thing in his collection but he seemed to favor that more than all the other items he'd collected.

The security system for his penthouse was state of the art, cost Drexel more than five million dollars to install.

And about five minutes for Augustus "The Cryptic" Roman to hack.

Augustus groaned "Why wasn't this harder? All it took was one little outdated program to take this thing down, cameras, alarms, and lasers, all of them…you'd think that someone as rich as Drexel would get more for his money."

The dismayed look on his face quickly turned back into an evil grin "Oh well, if I'm right I might have some fun yet."

Straightening his hat, Augustus was about to enter when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye; and turned to see a welcome (to him anyways) sight.

The Ice Queen had indeed figured out where he was going, granted the description was fairly vague but she had figured it out, and right now she was in front of him and holding a very large gun  
"Ah, I see you've came to join my little party" Augustus welcomed, leaning up on his cane.

"It's over Augustus, you might have found the other thefts easy but now you're going to jail and I'm making sure you stay there."  
"Ah but my dear you forget" Augustus responded, pointing his cane at her "I always have a trick up my sleeve."  
"Do you honestly think I'm going to let you get close enough to stab me with that?"  
"Who said anything about stabbing?" Augustus quipped, to drive the point home he quickly clicked a button on the side and shot out the four inch blade he kept hidden in his swordstick, except instead on staying on the cane, it shot right into Lucy's arm.

Lucy dropped her gun, and it was then that Augustus walked right up to the edge of the balcony "anyways, I can see I'm not getting any so I might as well leave while I still have a chance, toodles."  
The Cryptic hurriedly put his cane between his teeth and leapt off the building, and no sooner did he do that, then he activated something that extended out his coat and helped him glide to the building next to the apartment building Drexel lived in.

Lucy pulled out the blade from her arm, and (ignoring the pain) shot a grappling hook out at the other building and swung over to pursue her enemy.

Now before we go on let me tell you something I didn't mention, the building both Lucy and the Cryptic were heading towards was still under construction and aside from some boards that provided support for some of the workers, it was pretty much just a framework of steel girders.

Augustus had landed easily, and looked back to see Lucy had followed him, and so not sparing a single second Augustus pulled out his crossbow again.

Lucy took notice and carefully turned in midair, narrowly avoiding the bolts Augustus began to fire at her, trying to avoid so much as a grazing since she remembered what happened the first time he shot her.

Releasing a second grappling iron, Lucy swung right towards Augustus and tried to kick him in midair.

Augustus however quickly lept off the girder and glided down to one on the next floor, narrowly avoiding Lucy's legs.

Lucy wasn't fazed and proceeded to use her grappling hook launcher to continue heading down the girders.

The two adversaries continued a similar process in getting down the framework, Lucy not wavering even when she nearly fell at one point.

Soon though they reached the bottom and Augustus began running towards a hole in the fence surrounding the building-to-be.

Lucy hurriedly shot out a line and threw herself through the air, remembering Longcoat's lessons about a gliding function he put in her suit a month ago, she activated the mechanism and cut Augustus off just before he could leave.

He reacted differently than Lucy thought he would, instead of trying to fight her he simply straightened both his posture and his hat and said "as flattering as your pursuit of me is, I don't think you want to become roadkill."  
Lucy was confused by this for a couple second…right up until she noticed light shining past her and heard a very loud motor roaring behind her as well.

Realizing what was about to happen, the heartbroken avenger leapt to her right and barely avoided getting hit by a speeding grey sportscar.

As she got her bearings back she noticed that the car had probably been slowing down as she saw it stop about an inch or two from Augustus.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the car was his, and anybody stupid enough not to realize that would have been convinced when he leapt into it, doing so with enough speed to surprise most people.

As he sped off Lucy simply dusted herself off and reached behind her back to get something out of hammerspace.

About two months into her career, Lucy went after a gang of bikers called the Sons of Satan after reports of them having captured her friend Tess, they were going to try and use her for a virgin sacrifice (and boy were they wrong about that) right up until Lucy came in.

The gang got taken down in that one night, and all it took was just Lucy herself, Longcoat was pleased with the progress she'd displayed in beating the living shit out of about seventeen rapid Satanist bikers and sending them off to prison (and it was from that encounter that the rumors of the Ice Queen's very existence began to circulate the underworld.)  
So pleased was he that he gave Lucy something he'd bought some time ago at a police auction, an old police bike he'd been remaking for about a year, to the point where it was better than before and could actually shrug off hits from rocket launchers and move fast enough to go against race cars at its top speed (though it couldn't keep that speed for too long) he even added some extra functions to it to help it be controlled by the driver better.)

It was this bike that she pulled out of hammerspace, and no sooner had she set it on the ground, she started it up and roared after Augustus.

The Cryptic wasn't too much surprised though…

Augustus checked his rearview mirror and saw Lucy speeding toward him in what appeared to be an armored motorcycle.

"Persistant isn't she?" The boy chortled to himself "fortunately I have just the thing for that."  
He reached down to a panel between his seat and the shotgun seat and lifted the cover up to reveal a variety of buttons.

You see, Augustus stole this car at around the same time he decided to become a supervillain and modified it a lot, making it faster, more durable, and most importantly…armed.

The buttons, as you might expect, were rigged up to the various gadgets he outfitted on the car.

Let's cut back to Lucy now.

Lucy had caught up to Augustus, but was currently in a street that she didn't think would be busy at this time of night.

If she didn't think quickly, this chase would attract police attention fast and get her in trouble if they caught up to her.

She knew they couldn't catch her, but it wouldn't be a good idea to beat police officers up when they try to get you.

As she was thinking, she got more alert once she realized Augustus' car had just retracted two panels and unveiled a pair of large miniguns and they were directly behind him.

"Oh shit" she groaned "This'll bring them all down on our heads."  
Before they could fire she hurriedly pulled out a pistol and reached around the windshield at the front and shot at the right gun.  
The bullet however didn't give any effect on it, and shortly after this the guns began firing at her.

Pinning her ears back, the teenaged vigilante crouched down behind the windshield and began moving to the side of the car, hoping to overtake it, as if it anticipated this, the car turned to meet her and continued spraying bullets at her.

She knew that if something didn't happen quickly the windshield would break and she'd die so she had to figure out how to finish this before that happened.

As if to answer this, the two minutes of gunfire she experienced stopped abruptly when the guns just stopped firing.

If Lucy's hearing were better she could have heard Augustus say some very nasty curses when he realized he'd forgotten to load his miniguns after their testing earlier that day.

Lucy moved up closer and began trying to figure out how to stop Augustus before the police (or Mike) showed up, when she came up with an idea…so she pulled out her phone…

Augustus raised an eyebrow when he noticed (via his mirror) that Lucy had somehow pulled out a cell phone and kept control of her bike.

As he tried to figure out what she could have possibly been doing with it, he realized that the police had finally dispatched people against him.  
Coming out from his right gave a police car, they probably came from behind an allyway or something.

"PULL OVER!" The lion driving said police car roared.

"No thanks" Augustus responded "I'll pass."  
Pressing another of his gadget switches, Augustus' car whipped out a pair of blades from the hupcaps of his tires and sliced up the police's wheels.

As the car tumbled out of control, Lucy had finished her phone call, to stop the Cryptic now she'd have to rely on past police procedures and the reliance of a friend of her's…

Lucy had the police radio on in her bike, ever since supervillains broke out in Roseville the police had stepped up in terms of how fast they could move about, and she'd just heard orders to form a barricade about two blocks from where she was.

Now she knew Augustus wasn't an idiot and if he installed gadgets in his car he probably had police radio and was listening to their orders as well.

And just to make sure he went where she wanted him to, she hit the afterburner on her bike and cut him off at a crossroads they were nearing.  
He reacted as she hoped he would, Augustus quickly made a sharp left turn (as opposed to the right he could have taken or going straight, which would have only made things worse for him) and headed towards where she wanted him to go…the bridge.

She hadn't been there since she tried to kill herself there, but she remembered that there was construction work going on there and that the friend she called (you'll see who it is) could get there relatively quick.

Plus the police wouldn't have expected him to head that way (especially since they didn't realize it was the Cryptic) and by extension it'd keep them longer to get there.

Her plan was all that mattered at the moment, and she'd have to be careful about how she went at it.

By now they were very close to the bridge and Lucy decided to do stage one of her plan.

Very quickly she whipped out a pistol and shot out one of Augustus' tires, the speed he was going at proceeded to cause it to wipe out and roll over and flip right into a crane in the center of the road.

Augustus was, however able to escape getting killed by the force of the crash and jumped right out of his car before the wreck pealed itself right off of the crane and slammed to the ground.

Augustus looked at the wreck before turning back to Lucy (who had now stopped the bike) and said "alright, as of now you owe me a hat, a cane and a car."  
"Are you fucking serious? You nearly died, this can all be stopped if you just turn yourself in."  
"And if I don't want to?"  
Lucy assumed a fighting stance and glaring down at him she growled "then prepare for war douchebag."  
"Tally ho then" yelled the criminal genius as he proceeded to rush the Ice Queen.

As soon as he got within range of her he drew back his fist and tried to punch her in the face, Lucy barely avoided it and attempted to punch him in the face as well.

Augustus didn't dodge this but he'd avoided any real damage, the car crash had sufficiently disoriented him but not enough to keep him slow enough for a beat down.

For several minutes the two continued to fight, the stuff they'd been doing for pretty much a full hour had worn both down sufficiently and it was easier to beat eachother up, despite this though they weren't able to hit eachother much but they did manage to lay blows a bit more often than before.

Lucy was currently attempting a spinning kick on Augustus when she happened to notice that police cars were nearing…and that somebody else was on the bridge as well.

She recognized who it was but resisted the urge to grin so her opponent wouldn't realize what was going on.  
However she should have paid attention to Augustus because he seemed to realize she was distracted and proceeded to pounce on her.

Smirking down at her, he proceeded to start gloating "Well here we are again Lucy, with you completely at my mercy."  
"Not true shithead" he retorted, hoping he wouldn't realize who was approaching him "I brought protection."  
Augustus chuckled at this "And what do you mean by that?"  
"Who would be a more appropriate question."  
"Your boss?"  
"Nope, got someone better suited for this."  
"And what do you mean by-"

"Augustus?" a surprised voice rang out "W-w-what are you doing here?"  
Lucy had restrain herself from laughing when she saw the look of fear that rose on Augustus' face, he turned to his right and saw none other…than Daisy.

You see earlier, Lucy remembered the twitch Augustus had when she mentioned Daisy, now that was fairly vague but she came to the conclusion that despite his just wanting her to be happy (as far as she knew) he had an aversion to her and Daisy lived near the bridge.  
Her idea was that Augustus was a very quick fighter who dodged most of her blows, because of this any fight with him would last a long time so she came up with a plan, she called Daisy and convinced her (as Lucy not Ice Queen) to come to the bridge to talk about something important.

Despite Mike's claims, none of her friends actually left her when Mike left the table, granted Lucy tended to be by herself more (like I said, she really wanted to stay away from Mike) but she would talk to her friends whenever Mike was nowhere to be found.

She still didn't know why none of them knew of what Mike had done, but they did suspect something was up, and Lucy had thought of a lot of excuses for why she wasn't near Mike.

In either case Daisy came to the bridge, just as she'd hoped and Augustus was currently stunned enough for her final move, though Lucy knew that once this was over she should have had a VERY good excuse as to why she wasn't there, otherwise Daisy would probably figure out who she was.  
"D-Daisy? What are you doing here?" The astonished murderer yelled "Why are you he-…HEY WAIT A MINUTE!"  
He looked right down at Lucy and glaring right at her "You called her didn't you? I wondered who you called, Lucy but I didn't think you'd stoop to this."  
"Don't you remember your games in the past?" Lucy quipped, hoping he wouldn't catch onto the fact she'd reached a hand behind her back (despite being pinned) to grab the item she needed to finish off her plan "Your games made no sense, all it seemed to consist of was you…

"MAKING THEM AS YOU GO!" As Lucy yelled out the last part of her retort she quickly stabbed a dart into Augustus' arm.

Rolling out from under the villain, Lucy stood up and simply stepped back from a wild swing Augustus let loose.  
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" the Cryptic yowled as he attempted to slug her again and missed again.

"You were too alert earlier, I didn't want to do this but I needed you to drop your guard long enough to stick with that dart in your leg.

"That dart was laced with a toxin that dulls a person's senses and brain, making them slower and less aware of their surroundings.  
"In other words, now there's nothing you have to stop me from doing this!"  
She proceeded to punch him right in the face, Augustus didn't dodge this and fell down like a sack of bricks, before he could get up Lucy simply bent over and grabbed him by the legs, and then brought him up to her face.  
"How does it feel to be a victim Augustus? Does this remind you of what you put your victims through?"

Lucy proceeded to throw him several feet away from him, Augustus managed to flip himself over as she stood right over him again.  
"Lucy-"

"DON'T YOU SAY MY NAME AGAIN!" Lucy roared, then proceeding to lift him up and bash his face against the railing of the bridge.

"I understand what you went through" she hissed "But that is no reason to take somebody's life, not now, NOT EVER!"  
She bashed his face against the bridge again and then threw him several feet away from her, Augustus struggled to get up but Lucy had prepared her final strike.

Lucy proceeded to rush towards Augustus and proceeded to deliver a spinning kick on him, sending him staggering backwards.

Unfortunately though, she soon realized that she should have just left it be at smashing his head against the railing.

While part of the bridge was being remade there was also a chunk of the bridge that had broke off during one the fights Mike had with a guy known as Huma the Firebird, it was taped off…and Augustus accidentally walked right into it.

Augustus flailed his arms in a desperate attempt to keep his balance, and Lucy (while he may have murdered people) was horrified that she'd used too much force and ran over to him.

By the time she reached him though Augustus had tumbled over the edge, however he'd grabbed right onto a steel rod that was sticking out of the pavement and was dangling above the water.  
Urgently she extended her hand towards him in an attempt to pull him up "Take my hand!"  
Augustus looked up and proceed to simply flash an evil grin at her "I prefer death to prison I'm afraid."  
With that he simply let go of the rod and fell down into the water, by the time Lucy had (in a frantic rush) got out her grappling hook launcher she saw he was already beneath the water.

Looking to her right she saw that the police had came almost right up to the place, knowing they probably wouldn't believe her claims that it was an accident she set out for her bike.

Daisy however wasn't about to just let her walk free "Hey you, who are you?"  
"I don't have the time" Lucy said "The police will be here soon and I know they won't believe me saying this guy fell in by accident, you tell them it was an accident and that "Augustus" down there confessed to being the Cryptic."  
"Okay but..." Daisy suddenly realized something and stared at the Ice Queen in shock "A-are you…"  
"I'm the Ice Queen" Lucy said, getting nervous with Daisy's staring, satisfied with her response Lucy proceeded to prop her bike off and zoom into the night.

She wouldn't realize it until later, but Augustus didn't fall in because of the kick…she didn't apply enough force to do it.

If she'd stayed by a little longer she would have seen him crawling to the shore…

LUCY'S HOUSE 4:32 AM

Lucy staggered over towards her front door, she'd had a long night but now she was finally able to get some sleep.

She was about to get into the door when she heard Daisy's voice behind her.  
"How long have you been the Ice Queen?"  
Lucy turned and saw her friend glaring at her with her arms crossed.

Lucy groaned "What are you talking about?"  
"Don't play games with me Lucy, I know that was you on the bridge.  
"I'm not mad, I just want to know why you did it?"  
"And why would that be?" The weary crimefighter said.

"Tess nearly got murdered four months ago, she would have died if a girl known as the "Ice Queen" didn't save her, I've been trying to figure out who the ice Queen is ever since.

"I didn't know what you were doing when you called me out but Augustus referring to you by name and the fact you conveniently gave me a phone call but never showed up despite saying you were near the bridge on the phone were how I figured out who you really are.  
"Like I said, I'm not mad, I'd like to thank you for what you did, not only for Tess but for all the people who were scared of that criminal…I just want to know why you're doing this."  
Lucy groaned again "Daisy, if I tell you this, could you promise never to tell anyone without my ok? And I mean NEVER without my ok."  
"I can do that."  
"Let me tell you something…"

THE END OF EPISODE 1: Ice Queen VS The Cryptic

Epilogue

ST. NICKY'S TOY FACTORY: 10:00 PM

Alejandro stood inside the abandoned toy factory Augustus wanted to meet him in, impatiently tapping his foot as he leaned up against an old conveyor built.  
"This had better be good Gus."  
Augustus turned to face Alejandro, leaning up against the cane he was using to now support himself rather than just fight people, Lucy's beatdown would leave him out of the fight for awhile.

"Don't worry Al, I have just what you need" he pulled out a vial of a green substance and handed it to him.

"What the fuck is this?" The gangster growled.

"That stuff is the result of a recipe I stole from a government; this recipe was the supposed to create supersoliders for the government, however while this turns people into hulking monsters, it also makes them very stupid and hard to control.  
"Or at least they would be if it hadn't been for the nanites I added to the recipe.  
"This is all yours if you help me out with something."  
"And what would that be?" Alejandro questioned.

"I have a plan on how to use this stuff…"


	7. What keeps Mankind Alive?

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl, and the plot for this second storyline is inspired by the classic Batman story, Dr. Hugo Strange and the Mutant monster, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

Alejandro Small and the Monster Men: Part 1

HILL HIGH SCHOOL, 4:00 AM

The Hill high school was abandoned in the 70s after it became the site of an infection with an alien virus, while the virus was purged people were too weirded out by the place and another one was built in its place.

The place was surprisingly intact, despite being a little rundown…but soon the school was about to be known for something else.

In an abandoned gymnasium stood several large metal cages, two of them had a homeless dog in each, but another one contained something horrible.

It was a cat but you couldn't tell that if you looked at it, it was twenty feet tall and had a lot of muscle mass, the hair was completely shaved off him and the creature was on a heavy amount of drugs and chains, so instead of being in a homicidal rage it was asleep.

Alejandro smirked as he looked on at his handiwork, "Heh, this is going be a blast" he chortled, referring to the plan Augustus gave him…

ROSVILLE MALL, Saturday: 12:48 PM

"You broke his knee?" An astonished Daisy said, referring to what Lucy had just told her in a story of what she was doing the previous night.

"The guy was asking for it" Lucy defended "The bastard was selling children into slavery; frankly he should have been glad I don't kill people."  
Daisy had convinced Lucy to come with her to the mall; apparently she wanted to visit with her and while Lucy could normally blow these off Daisy said she checked Mike's schedule and promised that unless something extremely unforeseen happened, he wouldn't be there.

It had been a month since Lucy beat the Cryptic, and Daisy found out Lucy was the Ice Queen.

It had also been a month since Daisy learned why Lucy became the Ice Queen and what Mike did to her.

Despite Daisy's shock and outrage that Mike treated Lucy the way he did, Lucy convinced her to not tell Mike about this.

Lucy didn't want to put up with another fight with Mike, even though she'd become Ice Queen to deal with her pain she was still recovering from the trauma she'd experienced the previous year.

It may have been just a few minutes, but in those few minutes Mike had turned her life into Hell, and it'd take a long while to recover fully from the effects.

Still though, at least she had her friends and Longcoat was helping her recover from the trauma Mike had inflicted.

Back in the present, Lucy and Daisy were in the mall and sitting near a fountain, Daisy wanted to go shopping for new clothes and wanted to see if she could get Lucy something as well, the fact that Mike wouldn't be anywhere near them was a bonus too.

Daisy shook her head "True but you don't always have to beat people up within an inch of their life, look at Augustus."  
"You know I didn't use enough force to throw him off."  
"I'm talking about what you did before he fell, he might have murdered people but you actually resorted to brutally beating him, and then there was how you used me against him..."  
"I know what trauma feels like Daisy" Lucy sighed "I hated to use you against him but I had to end the fight quickly."  
"Because you wanted to stay away from…Mike" Daisy hissed out Mike's name, she was still mad about what Lucy told her concerning Mike, once this was done she continued "Is understandable, but he doesn't know you're the Ice Queen so you could have simply left after he appeared."  
"That would have left too many questions, and if I left too often eventually he'd try to figure out who the Ice Queen is, and while he isn't smart enough to figure out who I am I doubt that who or what ever made that suit of his can't find me."  
Daisy was about to say something when she heard something "Uh, Lucy? Am I the only one hearing something getting smashed?"  
Lucy looked behind her and saw a very large cat in a loincloth; it was completely shaved and smashing up the mall entrance.

Turning back to Daisy, Lucy said "Oh trust me, you aren't the only one."  
Daisy turned around and freaked out at the sight of the monster "OH MY GOD!"  
"Daisy, run for your life, I'll try to get this freak as quick as I can."  
"Can I-"

"No! I told you before that I'm not training you to help me; I don't want you or any of my friends to get hurt because of my alter ego, now RUN!"  
Daisy quickly got up and joined the large crowd of people who'd began to run from the hulking beast that had been trying to tear the place up, Lucy however made a beeline for the women's bathroom.

Finding the room to be empty she entered a stall and used hammerspace to remove her costume, a quick change later and she was ready to fight.

Rushing right out she saw that the monster hadn't stopped smashing things and had just began to near the fountain.

Wanting to end this quickly, Lucy pulled out a hand gun and proceeded to soot at the mosnter's left knee.

Much to her surprise the beast didn't even feel the bullet, Lucy didn't think it'd have skin that hard, she didn't even see the bullet sinking into the flesh.

The monster proceeded to begin ripping the fountain out of its supports, however Lucy decided to bring out sterner measures and shot a rocket launcher at its back.

This didn't seem to do too much damage but it did hurt the creature enough to get its attention.

"So you can feel pain" Lucy thought aloud, however her face quickly turned to a look of 'oh shit' once she realized that now the creature just ripped out the fountain and threw it right at her.

Lucy lept out of the way of the fountain, the very tip of her tail feeling the massive hunk of stone and marble as it flew through the air and demolished the bathrooms.  
No sooner had she got up on her feet again, when the monster proceeded to charge Lucy.

The girl began to run backwards and hurriedly pull out another rocket launcher from hammerspace, once accomplishing this (and dodging a trashcan the monster threw at her) she proceeded to shoot a rocket right in the creature's face.

The monster was hurt a good deal by the rocket but continued charging, Lucy had been slowed up by the rocket firing enough for the monster to backhand her.

The force of the blow sent Lucy flying a good forty feet through the air and right into the glass door of a department store.

Lucy barely had the time to recover before the monster charged right at her, stomping forth on all fours.

Lucy turned around and began to run away from the charging beast, it was clear that she didn't have anything that could stop him but she saw a fuel truck outside the mall and she had a plan that might just stop him.

Running as fast as she could, dodging clothes racks (and sometimes knocking them over) she ran to the far end of it, where she could clearly see an exit.

Pulling out an uzi she proceeded to shoot out the glass and run right through and into the parking lot.

A quick sweep showed that about twenty feet away lay the fuel truck she was looking for.

The monster burst through the wall about then and Lucy decided it was time to stop this rampaging beast for good.

Quickly Lucy lept on top a parked car and began running on them until the fuel truck was right behind her.

The monster, as she expected, had followed her and was smashing up cars in his wake.  
"C'mon you idiot" Lucy muttered "I want you to do it, c'mon, hit me."  
The monster roared and continued to rush towards her, its mind gone mad with hate.

"Hit me!" Lucy growled.

The monster was right up to her, the hot breath of its horrendous maw being unbearable.  
"HIT ME!" She yelled.

The monster proceeded to draw back one of its meaty fists back and tried to smash Lucy with it, and in the split second before the blow Lucy lept right out of its way.

The monster was mad and tried to move up, however the fist had smashed into the truck and was stuck, it could have moved the truck but it would take it a little bit.

Lucy backflipped backwards several feet and whipped out a bazooka, now all she had to do was fire into the truck and the resulting explosion should have knocked out the creature.

Just before she was about to fire she realized something and facepalmed.

She just remembered an easier way to take out the beast, and boy did she feel stupid for forgetting it.

As she reached into hammerspace however somebody else was approaching from above…

Mike had heard a police report of a giant, shaved cat tearing up the Roseville Mall, he'd been hunting down a supervillain called Bloodlust at the time and (as the Silver Sentinel) had flown down there to stop the beast.

And he was very surprised at what he saw there, the beast was in the parking lot with a fuel truck on its right arm, there were two large holes smashed into the walls, and a female cat in grey clothes was pointing a rocket launcher at the monster.

"Legacy, what is this?" Mike asked the AI that powered his suit.

"I am not sure, the cat appears to have punched it's fist through a mobile tank of flammable substances, the being also appears to be heavily mutated, but I cannot identify how it was."  
As the computer was talking Mike saw the girl with the rocket launcher drop said weapon and throw some kind of item at it.  
"Oh crap, she's going to kill it!" Mike exclaimed in shock.  
"Unlikely" the computer said "she appears to be throwing a bomb that contains a gas designed to make sentient beings loose consciousness."  
"You mean she's knocking it out?"  
"Precisely" the sentient computer replied.  
Below, the gas grenade did it's work and knocked out the raging monster.

Sensors within the suit picked up hearing the young vigilante mutter "I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner."  
The young girl instead started to walk over to the beast and began trying to use a chainsaw on the beast's arm.  
"Odd" Legacy said "I cannot seem to detect any heat signatures or a heart."  
"What do you mean?" A confused Mike asked the computer.

"There is something on her clothes that seem to make it impossible for me to sense heat or a heart, but I positive that the girl down there is not a machine."  
The girl had now put the chainsaw behind her back, where it suddenly disappeared and just after she did that she placed a small chunk of flesh she cut out of the monster's left arm into a plastic bag, which she also placed behind her back.

"What should we do Legacy?"  
"The best idea is to try and find out who this girl is and whether or not she's a threat."  
However as the computer finished saying this and the girl put the bag wherever she put the chainsaw, she turned around and saw Mike.

"Oh Hell no" said the mysterious girl, quickly she pulled something else out and threw it at Mike.

A bright light filled the air and blinded the young cat.  
"A flash grenade!" Mike thought aloud.

"Adapting to new weapon" Legacy said, after a few seconds the lights dimmed and the girl was nowhere to be found, he did though notice an open manhole.  
"Why did she do that?" Mike wondered.  
"Whoever she is, she must be very fast to have gone down that manhole" Legacy said "with her clothes it would be very hard to find her down there."  
"Then I'd better hurry" said Lucy's former friend, then proceeding to fly right down it and try to find the girl he thought went down there.

However when he left, he didn't notice the girl had slipped out from beneath the car she was hiding under and pull an armored motorcycle out from behind her back.

To say Lucy was pissed would be an understatement, she wanted to stop the monster but she didn't want Mike to even see the Ice Queen.

As she sped off on the motorcycle (not wanting to be anywhere near there when Mike realized she wasn't in the sewer) she let out a groan: "Great, if the monsters weren't a big enough problem, now I've got to put up with Mike again. This is gonna be a long night…"


	8. No One Man should have all that Power

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

LONGCOAT'S HIDEOUT, HUMAN'S EARTH, 3:30 PM

Lucy groaned "Daisy, I told you not to come here."  
Lucy had gone to Longcoat's hideout to try and analyze the flesh sample she'd stolen off the creature's body.

Daisy however chose to follow her in, despite Lucy having told her not to about two weeks ago when she did it the first time, apparently Daisy had seen her using the access portal to Longcoat's lair and realized that Lucy  
Lucy had told Longcoat about Daisy, and while he wasn't too pleased about Daisy being in on her secret (though he did say that her method of beating Augustus was a creative one, he did give her that) he didn't seem too upset at her.  
Though he did criticize the fact that she didn't think the plan out fully but he also remembered that Lucy was still in training so he could expect a few stupid plans from her.

In the meantime though Daisy had followed Lucy into the lair once more and was attempting to help her.  
"But Lucy…" Daisy protested.

"I'm glad you kept my identity a secret from the others, just like you promised.

"But I told you before, I'm already in danger every night, I don't want this to spread to any of my friends."

"Why can't I help with this labwork then? It wouldn't pose any danger to me."  
"That I know, but Longcoat prefers not to have many visitors."  
"Somebody mention me?" Longcoat said, now walking in through his door.  
Both Lucy and Daisy turned to see him and boy did he look like he'd had a rough day, his coat had mostly been shot up and his mask had been partially wrecked, he also looked like he'd slept in a mudpit or something.  
"What happened?" Lucy asked, groaning "Did you start a war again?"  
"First off" her mentor said "I didn't start that new war in Qumar, that was an accident."  
"ACCIDENT?! You shot their leader in the foot!"  
"He was funding terrorist groups" Longcoat pointed out "I simply went there to stop him and he overreacted to my shooting him in the foot…and his spine…and his nuts…come to think of it he actually had a reason to declare war.  
"You should just be lucky he thought you were part of a black ops group, if he realized you were an independent agent he'd probably have sent every assassin he could find after you."  
"Maybe" Longcoat said "But in either case what I was doing checking up on the country of Kasnia, on a hunch I checked up on their leader and learned that he formed a silent partnership with some new guy named the Red Skull* and this Skull dude appears to be making some a couple of villain groups he calls Axis America and the Axis Brigade.

"However, I accidentally blew my cover and was forced to run for it, fortunately I managed to convince them I was dead by means of a convenient mud pit, river and about half a megaton's worth of dynamite."  
"Do you plan to go back there?" Lucy asked.

"Hell no, this new group called the Howling Commandos is there…I'll let them take care of the shitfest."  
"Isn't that the group with that pregnant lioness?"  
"Yep" replied the investigative avenger.  
"Does she know she's pregnant yet?"  
"Nope, but she'll probably find out sooner or later."**

It was then that he noticed Daisy "Oh, hello Daisy, didn't think Lucy would let you help her with her work."  
"I'm not" Lucy groaned, "She followed me in."

Ignoring Lucy's statement Daisy returned the greeting Lucy's mentor gave her.

Longcoat walked right behind a curtain where he'd often change outfits "Lucy, I admit Daisy shouldn't be in the field without training, but from what you told me she's fairly smart and besides, she might have something valuable in that bag she brought."  
Lucy spun right around and noticed Daisy was holding a plastic bag that contained a substance she recognized as clay.  
"According to eye witness reports the monster came in a large black truck, when I ran out of the mall I saw a very large truck, the rear door was being closed and I saw a very large cage in it.  
"I assumed that was how the monster got to the mall and snuck over to it and picked some of this out of their tires, it's not much but I think this could get us a clue as to where the monster came from."  
"Why didn't I notice that before?" Lucy questioned.

"I was holding it in my fur, wasn't that hard actually."

"Well" Longcoat said, stepping out from behind his curtain in a new outfit (same style, it's just a new suit) "It's been fun Luc' but I heard reports of my nemesis Battle Bitch being in Chicago and I gotta see if I can catch her this time."  
"Goodbye mast-" Lucy caught herself "I mean Alex."  
"Goodbye Lucy, oh and by the way" he turned to face his apprentice "You can't do everything by yourself, I could barely manage to handle my war on crime back when I worked by myself, and ever since I made a few friends in the superhuman community things have been easier for me to handle."  
"Keep that in mind, would you kindly?" Loncoat said as he began to walk towards his exit, taking care to step over the sleeping Clover.

Hill High School, Furry Earth: 5:00 PM

"You have trouble" said Augustus "A lot of it."  
Alejandro got up from the seat he'd claimed up at once was a principal's office, Augustus had chosen to stop over to discuss the rest of his plan with him.  
"If you're talking about the Ice Queen, she couldn't stop-"

"I'm not talking about her" Augustus interrupted "Nor am I referring to that idiot the Silver Sentinel, nor the so called Bronze Titan, and I'm especially not talking that 'Golden Guardian' bitch either."  
He pulled out a digital camera from his top hat and turned it on "I'm referring to (he shuddered) her!"  
On the camera he showed Alejandro a picture he taken of Daisy when she picked out some of the clay from the truck's wheels.

"Augustus" Alejandro groaned "What did I tell you before, that bitch isn't a very large threat to-"

"She knows Lucy is the Ice Queen" Augustus revealed "I've been watching them closely for about two weeks, I got this confirmed when I read her diary."

"Why the fuck would she leave proof there?"  
"You'd be surprised what people leave in their diaries" Augustus dryly remarked "Regardless, if she's using her friends to investigate us, then we have an unforeseen element, a minor one yes but I don't want to leave this to chance."  
"How?" Alejandro growled "You yourself said it was a minor problem."  
"Well" Augustus said, reaching into his coat pocket "With this."  
Augustus had pulled out a large metal bracelet with a tube on it "What the fuck is this?" Alejandro demanded.  
"This" Augustus said "Is a venom feeder, based off of the designs for the steroid injector used by the archecriminal Bane.  
"You see, when I researched the monster formula, I discovered a version of the serum that induces temporary superhuman strength and durability, much less than the monsters' but you'll retain your full mind."  
Alejandro's face grew a massive grin when he realized what he was about to get "Just one question" he asked "How much is this going to hurt?"  
"A lot I'm afraid."  
"Bring it on!"

Hill high School, 11:00 PM

Lucy stood outside the abandoned school and narrowed her eyes at it.

The clay Daisy found was fairly common around there, and Lucy decided to make this place the first place she'd search to find the source of the monsters.

Making sure that Daisy wouldn't try to tag along (getting Paulo to throw a party at her house was easier than she thought it'd be) Lucy had decided to try and see if she could find the source of the monsters in here.

Deciding it was time to start Lucy checked the front door, as she suspected it was locked…fortunately for her, she knew how to fix that.

After cracking the lock she carefully opened the door and entered the building.

Listening carefully she could faintly hear people talking off in the distance, combined with growling, and various other sounds.  
A quick look at the floor showed that despite the building being abandoned for about thirty years there was less dust than there should have been, giving solid proof that somebody was there (though the noise was a dead giveaway.)  
Moving silently through the hallways Lucy began hearing the noises louder, the louder they got the more they began to unnerve her.

After a good deal of walking she noticed light coming out of a pair of double doors, cracking one open very carefully she looked into was an auditorium and saw something interesting on the stage.  
The were a pair of cats with rifles and they were standing watch over a pair of cages that themselves contained cats that she could have sworn were probably homeless.  
Leaning in for a closer look, she reached for hammerspace only to feel a sharp pain in her leg.

Looking down she saw a tranquilizer dart sticking out of her leg.

In seconds she lost consciousness.  
Before she blacked out, she saw Alejandro walk right up to her and lean right over her head.

He smirked at her and growled "You're my bitch now…"

* This is a reference to Persiana13's One Year later, where the Red Skull does just this.

**This is also a reference to One Year Later, where said lioness does indeed turn out to be pregnant.


	9. How Beautiful Destruction is

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

Hill High School, 11:00 PM

Daisy knew Lucy didn't want her to follow her but she couldn't help herself.

Figuring out an excuse to give Paulo so he wouldn't be suspicious with her leaving the party, Daisy headed over the abandoned high school she was sure Lucy had went to.

That school had a very high concentration of clay around it, plus it was abandoned so it would make an at least alright hideout, Daisy was told by Lucy to not go but Daisy was worried and chose to go and see if she could help her friend.

After getting out of her Mom's car (her parents were eating out and what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, so she 'borrowed' it to get to the school) Daisy walked over to the front door and found it was unlocked.

Slipping right in and noticing a suspicious lack of dust on the ground, Daisy walked through the school, though unlike Lucy she was rather scared.

Walking through the place she began to hear voices off in the distance and despite her fear, she pressed onward.

After a good deal of walking she found a double door with light coming out of the bottom.

She carefully poked it open a little and saw something disturbing, a cage containing a scared looking homeless cat, changing her perspective a little she also saw Lucy (in costume) tied to a chair.

Resisting the urge of shriek she closed the door and frantically tried to think of a way to free her friend, it was then she remembered something from her Mom's car and hurriedly sped off to get her plan into action.

Lucy's eyes cracked open as she finally recovered from the drugs Alejandro had used to knock her out, no sooner did she do so then she noticed a brown furred dog call over Alejandro (who seemed to add a hoodie to his outfit for some reason.)

Looking around she saw she was in an abandoned gymnasium, she also saw two other dogs, a yellow furred cat with an AK-47, and a lobster with a billy club.

Also in the room was a very large cage with a homeless cat in it, he was scruffy and looked like he hadn't shaved or bathed in months…not to mention the fact he looked scared out of his wits, Lucy was wondering why the cage would be for something about twenty times his size.

Next to that she could notice a table that was filled with lab equipment, it appeared to be distilling some bizarre green substance but Lucy couldn't tell what it was.

Her observations were cut short when she saw the sneering Alejandro walking over to her.

Standing directly in front of her he grabbed her jaw and held it up for him to see.  
"Not bad, a shame you gotta croak or else I could toy with you before you die."  
Lucy shuddered, knowing full well what the gangster meant by 'toy with her' and she was glad he wouldn't try to rape her.

"I gotta admit it got a lotta brains to find my new crib, but you won't be living to tell anyone about it."  
He looked over towards the cage with the homeless cat before continuing "Let me explain what I'm going to do, I'm sure you've heard about the monsters…"

Daisy nervously put down the can of gasoline she'd taken from her mother's car.

When Lucy explained the plan she used to beat the Cryptic, Daisy said that she could have done better and that the plan was rather shoddy.

'Well this is ironic' Daisy thought as she removed the cap, realizing that she was in the same situation Lucy was in.  
Daisy knew that her Mom (after an incident where she ran out of gasoline when her family went on a roadtrip) tended to keep two cans of gasoline in her car at all times, and she personally made sure they were filled whenever she got gas.

Daisy's plan was to try and lay out one can of gasoline as a makeshift powder trail and lead it right up to the second container, causing an explosion that could give Lucy enough time to escape (and probably wake her up for sure, though she didn't realize Lucy was already awake) whoever caught her.

Right now she'd placed one container near the door she'd seen and was beginning to slowly pour out gasoline in a trail leading back to her car.

Alejandro was about to get one Hell of a wakeup call.

"You see" Alejandro said, beginning his explanation for the monsters "When Augustus died" (Augustus told him to pretend he was dead, to further confuse the Ice Queen) "And yes I know he is, I chose to look through his stuff and guess what I found."  
He grinned evilly as he pulled out a vial filled with a thick green substance from his pocket "Turns out the boy had somehow got his hands on a formula that turns people into massive mutated creatures with superhuman strength and durability, the problem with it though is that it reduces the mind of those who ingest it into a psychotic brute that can barely speak.  
"Now obviously, I cannot take this drug myself and I wouldn't force it on any of my boys, plus I couldn't really control what they do either, however they provide the nicest distractions.  
"That monster at the mall today, he was just a test of what it could do and while you were able to beat it that was just due to circumstance, plus you really only won by luck, so I'm sure my plan will work.  
"Tonight, I'm going to release three monsters into the city and while they destroy shit me and my boys are gonna loot the banks in the confusion."  
Alejandro's sneer grew even nastier "I've got three monsters already made but I haven't made my fourth and I'd like to demonstrate just what I got."  
The homeless cat's eyes grew wide with fear when he heard this "NO! PLEASE DON'T!" He yelled out in pure fear.

Ignoring this Alejandro gave a motion to the dogs, understanding some secret code the gangbangers walked over to the cage and held the cat's arm out, rather hard as the poor devil tried as hard as he could to keep out of their reach but sadly he couldn't avoid their grasp.

As the arm was held out Alejandro walked right over to them and proceeded to inject it right into the homeless cat with a syringe he pulled from his pocket, after doing that he then hurriedly shoved the arm back into the cage, then proceeding to back off quickly (his goons doing the same.)  
In about half a minute a horrified Lucy saw a gruesome change go over the homeless man, she saw the agonized face as he began to grow rapidly, his muscles ripping open and expanding to great sizes, his fur beginning to fall right out, and worst of all, despite the expanding body the cage could barely keep itself together.

Alejandro smirked 'Augustus sure knows his stuff' he thought inwardly 'this is better than television.'

Getting his thoughts back to reality he turned back to Lucy who was looking fairly horrified by what she was seeing.  
This look quickly turned to one of great rage and for the first time since she'd been captured she finally spoke "YOU BASTARD!"  
She probably would have spoken sooner but she was trying to use the small knife she hid up her sleeve to cut open the ropes binding her while Alejandro spoke, she'd still failed to cut them in time as she'd had trouble getting a good cut (in her defense she had her arms tied behind her back and couldn't figure out how to get the job done.)  
She'd tried it slowly because she didn't want Alejandro to know she was cutting herself free, and was now wishing she'd hurried, if she had she might have saved that poor cat from what that…monster did to him.

Alejandro reached into his pocket and pulled out another vial, then pulling out another syringe.

"Well, since my mother was a whore you might be right, but regardless since you know my plan I can't leave you alive, and I really only need three monsters for my plan.  
"And frankly, I'd like to see what happens when a lady gets filled up with this shit, and I've always wanted to see what happens if two of these beasts fight to the death…

Back outside Daisy had been slightly distracted by all the noise in the other room but now she'd finally gotten the gasoline rigged up and it was all set to burn.

The gas was laid so that it turned a corner and led right into the side entrance for the gym, Daisy silently prayed that her plan would work before beginning.

Calmly she pulled out a book of matches and lit one, taking a deep breath she was about to drop the match when all of a sudden she heard a voice behind her.  
"Freeze bitch" growled an angry voice behind her.  
Frightened, Daisy turned around and looked right into the face of a very angry looking cat, he was holding a shotgun at her face and looked rather mad that she was there.  
So scared was Daisy that she accidentally dropped the match she held, and neither of them realized it at first.

So you can imagine the surprise of both parties when the gasoline caught on fire (Daisy was very glad she'd stayed just out of the fire's reach when it was lit.)  
The cat hurriedly rushed into the side entrance where Daisy had lit the fire, while Daisy herself hurriedly rushed off a few feet away and hid behind a row of lockers for when the angry gangsters showed up.

Of course though, they had enough troubles of their own inside…

(Line break)

Alejandro grinned to himself as he pointed the now filled syringe towards Lucy's arm (which was now frantically trying to break free) and was about to inject it when suddenly a scared looking cat burst in through one of the doors and yelled "SOME BITCH WITH A PEARL NECKLACE IS SETTING FIRE TO THE PLACE!"  
Lucy's eyes widened when she heard this, she was pretty sure that the 'bitch' in question was Daisy, she knew that the fire was no accident and that it had to be there for some reason.

For once Lucy was glad Daisy had actually followed her along, especially since she'd finally cut her hands mostly free.

With rage-fueled strength she snapped what was left of her bonds and lept up towards Alejandro, punching him square in the face mid-flight.

The gang leader tumbled down from the force of the blow, at about the same time as this a large explosion appeared at another door (Daisy's gasoline went off) and spooked the other gangsters.

Alejandro managed to stand up even quicker than Lucy thought he could, and (despite the fact the building was caught on fire) yelled out "SHOOT THE FUCK OUTTA HER!"  
The guards had somewhat more regained their nerve and got their guns ready to try and shoot Lucy.

Thinking fast Lucy made a dive towards the cat with the shotgun and punched him square in the jaw, once she'd knocked the guy down and took his gun, she rolled to avoid gunfire from the AK-47 wielding dogs.

Once she had the shotgun she took careful aim (only pausing once to punch the yellow furred cat in the jaw again) and shot the dogs just so they'd drop their weapons.

Alejandro had quickly had enough of this and yelled out the one word most generals hate to use.  
"RETREAT!"

At this the cat and dogs (plus lobster) began to run off towards one of the two entrances that didn't happen to be on fire, Alejandro didn't seem to run though.

Lucy tried to take aim at the fleeing criminals only to get hit by a brick, Alejandro had pulled one out of his pocket and hurled it at her in order to make her drop the shotgun.

As she did exactly what he wanted her to do, Alejandro ran off to the cage before she could recover.

Looking back at her he smirked one more time before yelling "Enjoy your new sparring partner, Ice Queen!"  
With strength that the Ice Queen found surprising, Alejandro ripped the lock right off the cage and then ran off to join his men.

It took the monster a few seconds to realize that the cage was free and no sooner did it realize that, it proceeded to burst through the door and Lucy knew she was in for a fight.

While trying to figure out what to do with it Daisy burst in through one of the doors that wasn't currently on fire.

"Hey Lucy" she yelled, having seen Alejandro's gang run out of the building "Are you still- OH GOD!"  
She got one look at the monster and freaked out (had the circumstances been different, Lucy probably would have chuckled at the way her tail frizzed out), the monster caught on to this and charged at the scared cheerleader.

Lucy hurriedly pulled out her grappling hook launcher and used a special hook to grab onto Daisy's fur, then proceeding to pull her over and out of the monster's path.

Retracting Daisy over to her she grabbed her arm and told her one simple word.

"RUN!"

Lucy wasn't sure if it was worth it, but that monster was innocent and had been forced into Alejandro's plan.

As such, she felt it would be horrible to just leave it to a blazing demise, she decided to lure it outside and knock it out before calling the authorities, and then hope he could get a cure.  
The two began to run off towards the door Alejandro and his goons used to leave, while running Lucy pulled out a hand grenade and threw it towards one of the burning doors.

Now the monster was following her and Daisy, but Lucy had a plan to get out and that was using the exit Alejandro used but the monster stood between them and the exit.

Lucy's idea was that since the brain had devolved into something very stupid and feral, so she figured it'd take a good sight of fire to distract it.

And so as the raging beast neared her, she hurled the hand grenade at one of the burning doors and continued leading her and Daisy over to the exit she selected.

The explosion opened up the door and fire burst right from the entrance, the monster stopped charging a second and looked on in surprise at the bright fire that showed up.  
Just as she herded Daisy out the door Lucy pulled out a magnum that contained armor piercing bullets and shot the monster in the arm.  
The bullet incurred enough pain to attract the beast's attention, and it began to chase after the teenaged crimefighter.

As she ducked out she hurriedly caught up to Daisy, who was pointing down a nearby corridor in the hallway, despite not speaking, the circumstances plus her frightened and excited mood, gave Lucy reason to believe she'd seen the way out.

Heading up she saw Daisy was pointing towards an opened emergency exit, no sooner had Daisy showed this however, the monster burst through the walls of the gymnasium.

Grabbing the stunned Daisy, Lucy ran right out the exit and turned around to see the monster burst through the exit (and leave a large hole in the wall to boot.)  
Lucy however had Daisy get behind her and in the blink of an eye she quickly pulled out a gas grenade and hurled it into the monster's face.

The creature, motivated by pure, blind hate tried to resist the gas, but it didn't take too long for the gas to take effect and the beast fell just an inch from Lucy's feet.

Daisy, having finally regained enough of her bearings to speak again asked Lucy "What are we doing now?"  
"Now?" Lucy said "Now I'm going to tie this guy up with steel cables and then I'm going after Alejandro, the other three superheroes in town can handle the monsters but they won't know you planned the whole thing.

"I want you to give an anonymous call to the police and tell them that this place is on fire, also make sure they know that there's one of the monsters here and that it's tied up, do not mention me at all and make the call as short as you can."  
"I can do that" Daisy said, swallowing a little nervously.

"Thanks, oh and Daisy?" Lucy added.  
"Y-yes?" asked the cheerleader.

"Thank you for coming to save me, I'll be keeping this in consideration for later…"


	10. The Dark Carnival is in town

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

Lucy grit her teeth as she used her motorbike to speed through the darkened, panicking streets of Roseville.

Reports of Alejandro's monsters had been heard all over the radio, the rampaging beasts were enough of a menace to cause the police, Bronze Titan and the Silver Sentinel (plus the new hero known as the Gold Guardian, who seemed to be rather fond of the Sentinel) to just be fighting them.

Which left the banks with very little protection from Alejandro's thugs, but Lucy was willing to provide it.

Currently she was zooming towards the 1st national bank, thanks to some of the instruments Longcoat gave her (a device that scans for silent alarms) she found the silent alarm going off there and figured that was where the gangsters were.

Lucy was zooming through the streets with plans to stop Alejandro before he finally got away with his evil plan, however she didn't realize another element that was about to foul up her plans…

Mike shook his head as he lay in what used to be a gym, though getting thrown into it by a giant, mutant cat had a…interesting effect on the building's architecture.

Mike didn't know what to make of this situation, earlier in the day a monsterous cat tried to destroy the mall but despite the efforts of himself and the police they couldn't figure out why it was there or who made it.

It was about a half hour ago that reports of three more monsters were sighted throughout the city, they were smashing up everything in sight and he had to stop them.  
While his new partner and Bronze Titan were handling two monsters he himself was struggling to stop the feral rage of the poor beast he had to stop.

Rising from the rubble he glaring back at the mutant, said beast now charging right at him, murder in its rage filled eyes.

'Michael the anomaly is back'

The Korat's eyes blinked beneath his helmet, barely managing to dodge the beast as it charged Mike.

'What anomaly?' Mike questioned internally as he punched the beast hard enough to throw it back into the street.

'The woman who attacked us earlier, I can feel her presence, and she's coming in fast.'

Mike had been fairly upset when the mysterious woman who fought the earlier monster ran away from him, not because she ran from him but rather because of how she left a lot of questions.

As Mike began to try and think up a response to LEGACY, the monster (who was attempting another charge, not realizing that his repeated attempts to charge Mike didn't work out so well) got hit with some kind of gas bomb and fell unconscious.  
Mike didn't need LEGACY's analysis to tell him that it was knockout gas, the same kind of gas used on the other monster earlier.  
'Now I might get some answers' Mike thought (and conversing to LEGACY by extension) as he saw the girl from before riding by on an armored motorcycle.

Flying off into the air Mike began to trail the girl closely, however despite efforts to sneak up on her she realized she was being followed and turned her head to see Mike nearing her.

Sensors in the LEGACY created suit could clearly hear her swearing "Goddammit, I thought I lost him earlier."  
The girl proceeded to increase her speed and run off from Mike, she was fast he'd admit that.

Fortunately for Mike, he was faster.

Moving faster than the bike could, Mike moved a good deal away from the girl and stood directly in front of her.

However what he didn't expect to happen was that the girl (whoever she was) didn't swerve or try to ram him, instead stopping quickly and pulling a bazooka out from behind her back.

"Get out of my way" she growled "I have an appointment."  
Something was familiar about this girl, the voice seemed to remind him of someone he knew, the costume she wore covered up all her fur except for her chin and her ears, showing that her fur color was a shade of white that he was sure he'd seen before.

Despite how her very appearance was vexing he still just stood his ground and told her "No, I might not know who you are but if you're trying to run from me-"

"Are all superheroes as dense as you are?" The girl growled again "I don't have the time for this, do you have any idea why monsters are tearing up this city?"

Michael was about to give his own answer when he realized that neither he nor LEGACY knew who caused that whole 'monster rampage' to happen.

Fact is, despite LEGACY being a highly advanced computer with sensor equipment that no manmade machine could match, all Mike knew about the monsters was that they were heavily mutated, that and the fact that they couldn't have naturally occurred due to the heavy amount of mutagens and chemicals found in their blood.

"These monsters" the girl said, not waiting for a response "Were made by a gangster named Alejandro Morgan, the three currently attacking the city are purely a distraction for a plan to rob the banks in the confusion.

"This man must be stopped, he needs to be stopped before he manages to escape and make more of these…beasts and he's currently still looting the first national bank, there's only a small window of opportunity to find him."  
"Then let me go and-"

"No!" she hissed, the voice displayed not only hatred towards Alejandro, but he had a feeling that it was directed towards him as well "This is MY hunt, that monster turned somebody in front of my eyes and I couldn't stop him, I have to stop this man myself."  
Mike could tell that this girl truly hated the man, but not just because of his 'mutating tendencies', he could tell she hated him for another reason (Author's Note: Most people who've read Bittersweet Candy Bowl can probably guess why she hates him…damn rapists.)

"Head to the other monsters, the police and other heroes won't be able to stop them easily and most likely need your help."  
'She's right Michael, it'd probably end this whole problem quicker if the others helped, except for one thing'

'And what is that?" Mike's thoughts asked LEGACY.

'I don't know why, but the tone of voice she's using suggests that she seems to be slightly nervous for some reason, regardless though this will have to be looked into later, for now there's a clear and present danger elsewhere and we're needed elsewhere.'

"Alright" Mike said aloud, "I see your point, I'll head off to fight the other monsters and you'll take out the gangster, miss…"

"Ice Queen" the girl hurriedly said "Now go, I have to get to work."  
Not speaking another word Mike flew off to his job and the Ice Queen zipped off towards the bank.

As Mike flew away through the air he soon grew out of out of the Ice Queen's range, and thus out of LEGACY's sensor range.

If they'd been a bit slower they might have heard the Ice Queen's sigh of relief and her muttering of "Finally, I thought he'd never leave."

After encountering Mike it took about ten minutes for Lucy to reach the bank, as she expected she could see a large bus (which she presumed was stolen) was in front of the bank and saw a pair of cats (one a black cat and the other a brown cat with black spots) hauling cash out of the building.

The street was completely empty which was no surprise due to the panic that swept the city, the people around the banks had chosen to get out of town until the creatures were gone and like a good deal of the city were likely in a massive traffic jam at the borders of the city.

Lucy had stopped just a little bit ahead and waited for the cats to reenter the bank, then quickly and quietly she brought her bike into an ally next to the bank and slipped inside.

The cats she'd seen had just exited the plaza (or whatever the hell you call the beginning part of a bank) and Lucy saw them go into the vault, without either of them realizing it she followed them along and pulled out a small mirror so she could see what was going on.  
Inside she could see Alejandro was directing the cats and dogs Lucy had seen earlier that day, and they were in the middle of stuffing cash into duffel bags, Alejandro still had the hoodie he was wearing on and Lucy felt uneasy about it for some reason.  
"Hurry it up!" Alejandro said, his voice showing that he was rather impatient "We gotta get all this cash before the Ice Queen shows up."  
"Too late" Lucy growled as she stepped into their view "It's over Alejandro; it's time you finally paid the piper for the lives you've ruined."

"Ah, so the superchica finally decides to show up" Alejandro purred, turning around and leering at the female crimefighter "Shoot her in the tits boys."  
The brown and black cats hurriedly left the piles of cash they were trying to stuff into bags and tried to grab the shotguns they had on the floor.

However, they were fairly close to the door and Lucy chose to not give them the chance to grab their weapons, hurriedly she proceeded to rush in and slug the black cat square in the face, and just as quickly she proceeded to sweep her right leg through the air and kick the other cat right in the head.

Another cat then proceeded to charge at her with a crowbar, this guy was pretty large and Lucy remembered kicking him around back when she was trying to take out the Cryptic, thinking fairly quickly she hurriedly uppercutted him and proceeded to use a kick to his groin that was strong enough to knock the thug over.

One of the dogs (a grey furred one) proceeded to rush at her as the large thug was falling to the ground, his attempt to attack her though failed fairly miserably as she simply grabbed him by his face and bashed him into one of the nearby walls of the vault.

All that remained were two dogs at the end of the vault and two dogs that were cowering at the end.

"Is that what passes for help these days" Alejandro groaned "Leave it to the boss to get shit done right."  
Lucy attempted to lunge right at Alejandro and then tackle him and the other two down at the same time when something unexpected happened.

With speed that surprised Lucy, Alejandro proceeded to quickly just punch Lucy in the face, the force being hard enough to send her back to the opening of the vault.

"Waste her!" yelled the gangster, Lucy didn't waste any time in getting out of the entrance as the two dogs opened fire with a pair of uzis.

As the gunfire roared through Lucy could hear the gangsters rushing out to fight her.

One of the dogs ran right out first and got a fist to his face, and while he got knocked down, his partner also ran out but one sweeping kick from Lucy and he got knocked down as well.

As she turned around she got met with a fist to the face that got her knocked over, as she began to get up though Alejandro removed his hoodie and she was definitely surprised at what she saw.

Alejandro's hoodie had been covering up a tube of sorts, one end was connected to a large bracelet on his right wrist, on it she could see a bright red button and a small green knob, the other end appeared to be connected to the back of his head.  
"Impressive isn't it" the murdering thug sneered "I had this installed earlier today, you see if a few key ingredients are removed from the serum used to mutate those cats the serum causes a temporary increase in strength, healing abilities and speed, for best effects it has to be directly inserted into the bloodstream, and what you only felt was a small dose."  
His mouth turned into a slasher smile as he turned the knob up a good deal higher, and it was previously very low (as far as Lucy could tell anyway) "Imagine what a large dose will do to me."

Pressing the red button on the bracelet caused something disturbing to happen before Lucy's very eyes, the gangster cat's muscles began to grow and swell up to large sizes…quickly growing up to three times his size.

The clothes of Alejandro began to snap as he grew, his shirt burst off and his pants barely managed to remain on him, his shoes were completely shredded from the growing flesh and aside from his mostly ripped up pants all the clothes that remained were Alejandro's hat.

The gangster cat was almost able to hide the fact that he'd been in a good deal of pain throughout the transformation, but despite this he flashed an evil grin towards Lucy before uttering four words that signaled that a terrible fight was about to start.  
"Come at me bitch!"  
Lucy quickly lept up and got on her feet, Alejandro simply stood up and brushed a little dust off his hat.

Lucy, not wanting to waste another second in attacking this monster whipped out a pistol and shot Alejandro in the arm.

The giant brute shrugged this off, and merely began to menacingly advance on Lucy, the teenager was feeling slightly unnerved about the maniac approaching her but instead chose to whip out the rocket launcher.

However, Alejandro was no idiot and as soon as he saw even the smallest trace of that rocket launcher, he quickly rushed forward and grabbed Lucy up in one meaty fist.

Bringing her to eye level, he grinned evilly at her "Did you think I was an idiot like those other freaks, chica? The security cameras showed the beast getting hurt by your bazooka, so why do you think I'd give you a chance to get it out?"  
With a roar Alejandro then threw her across the bank, Lucy could feel a whole lotta pain as she hit the wall, fortunately enough for her though she was near the door.

Unfortunately for her, so was Alejandro.

The villain had rounded up on her quicker than the vigilante could react, and Alejandro proceeded to deliver a chop to her right arm.

Lucy bit her tongue as she felt that her arm was dislocated (she was very glad that it was just dislocated, she was even surprised it wasn't broken) and glaring up at Alejandro.  
"Any last words you lousy cunt?"  
Reaching behind her back with her left hand (barely managing to escape Alejandro's sight) she pulled out a flashbomb and growled "You need more sunlight."  
Closign her eyes and detonating the bomb, a bright light shone through the room and blinded Alejandro.  
"Madre de dios! My eyes!" The villain yowled, allowing Lucy to zip right out of the building.

Stumbling out of the building she began to try and think of how she could beat the monster, she got down to the bottom of the steps before finally settling on a plan.

And not a moment too soon, for Alejandro's beastly form had just staggered out of the entrance.  
Despite her escape he didn't seem to be very mad at her, in fact he seemed to be almost gleeful about her running.

"So you're running eh?" He bellowed "Good, I love it when they run."  
Lucy knew too well what he meant and began to run off for the subway across the street, Alejandro followed but a tad slower in hopes of unnerving her before his intended rape.

Getting to the entrance Lucy hurriedly slid down the railing, barely managing to keep ahead of Alejandro.

No sooner had she reached the bottom then she roared past the ticket booths and kept running until she neared the tracks.

Just as she stopped she pulled a handgun out of hammerspace and cocked it, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do.

As she stood firm (just inches away from the edge), Alejandro finally roared into her line of sight, which wasn't very long in coming.

The monster charged right at her, a look of sadistic glee on his face as he neared what he thought was the end of a pain in his ass.

When he was about three feet away from her (smashing through everything in his way and leaving a large pile of debris in his wake) Lucy quickly whipped out her gun and shot the cord that delievered the venom to Alejandro's veins.

Alejandro screamed out in agony as the cord got cut, not stopping his charge at Lucy at all.

Not wanting to go out like a sucker Lucy quickly sidestepped the madden charge and let Alejandro fall onto the subway rails.

And the third rail was active.

Electricity surged through all of Alejandro's cells as he hit the rail, letting out a scream of pure pain was Lucy's signal to end it.

Noticing an emergency turnoff switch for the power to the third rail in case of such an emergency, Lucy simply walked right over there and pulled it down before enough juice came in to kill Alejandro.

Zipping down to what she thought was Alejandro's unconscious body and pulled out some medical equipment to perform tests on it, turned out that he was still alive, barely alive but he was still breathing.

Lucy was surprised at how much electricity went through his veins in about twelve seconds and got out of the tracks, preparing to deliver an anonymous phone call to 911 about a "massive idiot" blocking the subway tracks.  
However, just as she got out Alejandro cracked one eye open and realized just what kind of a situation he was in.

"Take me in will she…" he muttered, reaching his still hurting hand towards the venom tube, part of it had touched the third rail and he knew that some of the serum was left in it.  
"That bitch will never take in Alejandro Morgan" growled the gangster before he closed his eyes, after he did that he closed his eyes and put the tube in his mouth to try and suck up more the serum to make him stronger.

And he got stronger alright, but not in the way he'd hoped, turns out the serum was mutated by the electricity in it…plus it was never meant to be drank.

Lucy's first tipoff to what had happened was the yowls and screams of pure pain coming from Alejandro.

And when she turned to look at him…she wished she hadn't…

"…And you say it's irreversible?" Chief Duncan said to the doctor watching over what used to be Alejandro.

"I'm afraid so" the doctor sadly said, the aging hyena looking down sadly at the monster before him.

Alejandro's swallowing the serum had an even worse effect than the cat anticipated, it did make him stronger, but at a terrible cost.

His fur had completely fallen out, his skin had reduced itself to hardened scales, he'd grown into a ten foot tall muscled beast as well, his nose reduced to a slit, his teeth rendered into something like large shark teeth, and lastly they could have sworn that he had grown a set of gills on his neck in addition to his lungs.

They weren't sure how the serum had mutated him, but they did figure out that the serum was unstable to begin with and the electricity didn't help things any, though they were still trying to figure out what he was using.

No time was wasted in getting him (like the other monsters) admitted to a hospital, and like the others Alejandro was currently restrained to the point where the only thing he could actually move was his head.

Duncan shook his head and began to walk out of the room "And to think, this wretch caused all this monster shit."  
As he and the doctor stepped out of the room and began to argue over what should happen to Alejandro, neither of the two realized that the Ice Queen had been hiding out of the window the whole time.

As the khao manee stepped in Alejandro cracked his now reptile like eyes open and turned his head right towards her.

"Well, well, it seems you won after all, I'm now…this, and you're free as a bird."  
"Stuff it you asshole, you're going to prison and-" Lucy said prior to being interrupted by a complete bastard

"I'll stay there the rest of my life, blah, blah blah, and you live happily ever after, but this ain't over you bitch.

"I'm gonna get outta this joint soon, and when I do I'm gonna find out who you are…and then I'm gonna rape the shit outta all your friends and family, and I'll end with you…you hear me you stupid cunt! I ain't scared of you and I will have my revenge, you see if I-"

He then noticed that his audience had left him and he lay back down, and closed his eyes.

In his mind he was thinking 'Augustus was right, threatening those close to her is just what we need to push her in the right direction…'

LUCY'S HOUSE, 5:00 PM THE NEXT DAY

"Daisy, we need to talk" Lucy said, a look of concern in her eyes "I told you not to follow me earlier today, and while you did I'd be dead if you didn't."

Lucy's house was empty at the time, her parents were at work and her pets went out to the movies.

Lucy had waited until they were gone before she called Daisy over, she remembered what Alejandro had said to her yesterday and she wasn't about to let him hurt her friends.

Daisy was listening intently to what Lucy was saying, the couch they were on being the same one Lucy sat upon when she first heard of the Cryptic, "Alejandro threatened to kill me and all my friends and family, I do not want this to happen" Lucy continued "I can't protect them all the time, and I can't keep the city safe without help."  
Daisy's face drooped down a little as she heard this "So what are you thinking of doing?" She asked.

"I talked to Longcoat earlier, he was right when I said I couldn't wage a war on crime by myself, I offered him an idea and he agreed to try it.  
"So" she said standing up from the couch they were sitting on and extending a hand to her "Would you want Longcoat to train you as well?"


	11. Their Gonna clean up your looks

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

DOWNTOWN ROSEVILLE, 3:37 PM

In the allyways of Roseville, a young girl (a mouse) was running for her life.

She'd had a modeling job earlier and was on her way to it when large vines upset the car she was in, and to make matters worse, vines began to burst out of the ground around her.

She'd had to leave the car and run for her life from what appeared to be a series of sentient vines that wished to kill her.

She'd been running for about ten minutes, the look of fear on her face being a sign of how unbelievably scared she was of what she was dealing with.

As she began to wonder what was causing her current misery, she didn't notice a vine had managed to reach her leg and grab her.

The girl fell flat on her face as the vine wrapped around her right leg, as she struggled to get up the vine lifted her up into the air, as she did that three more came out to grab her left leg and arms and held her up in the air.

While she struggled to figure out why this was happening, something large burst through the ground…a large sunflower that had a familiar looking figure sitting on it.

The figure looked up at her and coldly said "You took it from me."  
Not bothering to explain what she meant, the figure slightly moved one of her fingers and then the vines yanked back and ripped off the mouse's arms.

Letting out a shriek of pain the mouse fell to the ground, as she lay there and bled to death she realized something.

She realized where she saw the girl that had murdered her before.

Too bad she wouldn't live to tell anyone about it.

BEHIND THE LUCKY IRISHMAN PUB, 5:00 PM

"GET IN YOU FUCKWADS!" Yelled a large and black furred sheepdog to the two German Sheppards who worked with him, the trio was currently running from some crazy woman attacking their boss, and they didn't want to be around when she finished.

Their boss was a pimp named Lenny, and a notoriously vicious pimp; he was busy assaulting one of his whores when he learned she was trying to leave his posse.

It was about then though that shit went sour, until that day none of them believed that the vigilante known as the "Ice Queen" existed.

Just as their boss was about to try and kill the whore (a poodle) a female cat in a grey outfit leapt off of the pub they were near and began to savagely beat the man.  
She was currently attacking their boss when the thugs got to the Cadillac their boss drove.  
No sooner had they gotten to said Cadillac they yanked open the doors so quick they tore them off.

Just as they began to drive off the sheepdog looked into the mirror and saw that the Ice Queen had just roared out of the allyway their boss' currently bleeding and knocked out form was laying in.  
"We beat her" one of the German Shepherd (the sheepdog could never remember their names) excitedly yelled, thinking they were safe "She can't get us now."  
The sheepdog though was a tad suspicious; she wasn't even trying to run after them.

At about that moment an explosion came from beneath the car and flipped the whole thing over.

As it hit the ground the sheepdog could feel his body in a good deal of pain, the others had either fallen unconscious or dead (not being able to tell from his position.)  
He could feel a nasty lump on his head caused from hitting the car's roof and could feel himself succumbing to the blackness.

Just before he went under he was sure he could hear two people talking.

"How'd I do?" Questioned Daisy, wanting to know if Lucy's teaching her how to perform timed attacks had sunk in on her.

Longcoat wasn't able to train Daisy today (having taken her in as a second apprentice the previous month after Lucy convinced him to, he accepted it surprisingly well, for a reason that struck her as rather crazy…"The more the merrier") due to his attempts to find (and capture) a gang known as the Third Street Saints, he wasn't having much success though due to an unfortunate tendency to get ambushed by gangs of Mexican wrestlers.  
"You did it too soon" Lucy said "If you'd done it about a second late they'd have died from the crash.  
"Still though, the timing was pretty good even if you failed to do it at just the right time to ensure bodycasts for all of them."  
Daisy's ears drooped down a little with sadness for her failure "I'm sorry, what are we doing next?"  
Lucy rubbed her chin a second in thought "Longcoat said I should help you improve in fighting, he said that…hang on, I'm hearing someone from around the corner."  
No sooner had she spoke, Lucy quickly jumped off the dumpster Daisy had hidden in and leapt up to the roof top of the pub they were behind.

Daisy hurriedly leapt onto the dumpster and was about to leap up onto the roof…when Mike came from around the corner.

Lucy was very glad that Mike didn't hear the facepalm she was giving herself.

"Uh…hi Mike" the sheepish Daisy said to the secret crimefighter.

Mike's eye was twitching a little as his mind tried to work out why Daisy was standing up on a dumpster as if she planned to leap up to a building or something…while there was a wrecked, flipped over car with at least three unconscious dogs in need of medical attention inside it.

After trying to work out why she was there (and ignoring LEGACY's odd suggestion that she caused the explosion) he just settled for asking "What are you doing?"

Daisy's mind blanked out for a second as she tried to make up a good lie to hide what she was doing there…unfortunately lying was never one of Daisy's strong points.

"Well…I was trying to practice my gymnastic routines" she lied.

"With a wrecked car right next to you?" Mike asked, wanting to know why the police weren't there.  
"Actually I was doing this while I waited for the police to come" Daisy lied, reminding herself to call the police once she'd left.

"Oh, you want some com- excuse me, my cell phone is ringing."  
With that, Mike hurriedly slipped right around the corner and went right out of Daisy's sight.

No sooner had Mike left Daisy, Lucy jumped out down to the ground.

Jumping on the walls for a safer rate of descent, Lucy made it down rather quickly and rejoined Daisy.

"What are you doing? Mike might not have left."  
Lucy was still paranoid of Mike, and her efforts to avoid him had been getting more grandiose, the previous day she'd pulled the fire alarm as a means of escape.

"My hacker device" Lucy began, referring to a device Longcoat gave her that allowed her to 'hack' electronic conversations "Was listening in on Mike's head, another one's been committed."

"Another what?"

"Another plant murder" Lucy sighed "I'm afraid there will be no more training today…"


	12. With all the Lies in the Books

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

Downtown Roseville: 5:30 PM

It took Lucy forty five minutes to find the murder victim.

The police had cordoned off the area. And about twenty police were there trying to investigate the murder.

Lucy remembered when she heard about the first murders.

For the past week there were three (counting the most recent victim) murders, each of them left no traces of evidence but all the victims were killed the exact same way…strangulation by a large vine.

Looking down towards the street, Lucy could tell she wouldn't be able to sneak in this time. The police were doing all kinds of activities to investigate this murder.

Lucy knew that sometimes you couldn't sneak into places to get what you wanted. Fortunately for her, Longcoat had given her something that could handle that problem.

Crouching down on her stomach, Lucy reached behind her back and pulled out both a spyglass and listening device from hammerspace.  
As she switched the device on Lucy began to hear something very interesting.

"…Damn shame" Chief Duncan said, oblivious to his eavesdropper "Why are the young ones always the victims of this…monster."  
A man Lucy identified as a crime scene investigator was examining the pockets, intently searching for any clue to the killer's motives.

Not long after Duncan had spoke, the investigator pulled out a small paper. He took a quick look at it and put it in a bag for future reference.  
Lucy however had gotten a quick look at it and realized her search might not be as hard as she thought.

For the paper was…

Longcoat's hideout: 9:30 PM

"An audition slip for the Flecher modeling agency."

Longcoat was sitting in an easychair he'd taken the previous night in a raid on a furniture shop that was a front for a drug ring. The crimefighter was listening intently to Lucy as she told him what she'd found out.  
"Interesting, why did you think it was important?"  
Lucy reached behind her back and pulled out a small bag that contained two slips…that were exactly like the one found on the mouse girl who was killed earlier.

"On a hunch I checked the coroner's office while he was out; apparently there were slips just like this on the other girls. Aside from this and the plants, there's no other connection between the victims and-"

"You believe that all the victims have something to do with the agency right?" Longcoat interjected, essentially finishing Lucy's sentence.  
"Exactly" Lucy added (grumbling in her head about Longcoat interrupting her again) "I'm going to head over there tomorrow and check their records for any clue that could lead me to the killer."

Longcoat rose up from his chair and stretched. Rousing Clover in the process (the young beast was asleep.)  
"I wouldn't advise sneaking in this time Lucy, there's a skill I think you could use and I figure it's about time you learn it."  
Lucy rose an eyebrow in suspicion, she heard the tone Longcoat was using before and when that tone was used…she knew she likely wouldn't enjoy what he had in mind.  
"And just what is this?"  
"You'll see" Longcoat chuckled "We'll have to wait for Daisy to get here though; she knows a bit more on the subject needed for this operation…"

(I know this is a little short but a larger chapter will be coming in a little while.)


	13. Because the Drugs Never work

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

Longcoat's lair: 9:30 AM

"No! Fucking! Way!" Lucy yelled.  
Longcoat rolled his eyes as he stood outside of the bathroom in his lair, beside him stood Daisy.

In Daisy's hands were a tube top, miniskirt, pantyhose, hairband, and high heel shoes.

"You're making a mighty big fuss here Lucy" Longcoat shouted back through the locked door.  
"And I'll continue doing it" she yelled back "There is no way I'm wearing those, the wig and makeup are bad enough!"

"But it's essential to the plan" Longcoat said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Longcoat had decided to teach Lucy the art of disguising herself, and as it happened he wanted to have her audition at Fletcher's in hopes of gaining any information he might not get from his plan of sneaking into the offices and checking the schedules there for clues.

Unfortunately for him, Lucy was refusing to put on the rest of the valley girl disguise.

"Look girl, I have to teach you about establishing false identities and disguises, and we need information for this case."  
"No!" She yelled "I am NOT doing this."

Fletcher's modeling agency: 12:30  
"I can't believe I'm doing this" Lucy muttered under her breath.

She was sitting in waiting room for girls who were trying to audition for modeling jobs, as far as Lucy could tell, the room was pretty much just full of idiotic girls who thought they were sex personified.

From Lucy's viewpoint they were just a bunch of spoiled whores.

Daisy had came with her as she'd always wanted to find out if she could make it as a model, and because Longcoat said "Two heads are better than one."  
The cheerleader gently nudged Lucy with her elbow and whispered (carefully) to Lucy.

"Careful. You're in disguise."  
Lucy nodded in response and began rehearsing her 'valley girl' accent in her head.

As she sat she noticed that a girl from her school, a so called 'popular girl' named Katey, was being thrown out of the door.

But she wasn't the only person she recognized…

MEANWHILE IN THE MAIN OFFICE

There are some people in this world who can't do things in a simple manner. And it's even rarer when there are people who can do things in a simple manner but choose not to.

Longcoat is the poster boy for the latter.

Longcoat had sneaked into the building through a ventilation shaft. Peaking through a vent cover he was pleased to have found the main office.

'Well that was easy enough' he thought to himself 'Now all I have to worry about is defusing that nuclear bomb in my house…Battle Bitch should really try some better tricks.'

As he looked into the room he saw the door open and remembered his talk with Lucy earlier that day.

Longcoat's Lair: 11:21 AM

Lucy grumbled as she stood in Longcoat's dojo. She felt like a fool in the valley girl disguise he'd tricked her into wearing.

The dojo looked very much like the kind of Asian dojos you'd see in some kung fu movie (matter of fact is: Longcoat intentionally made it that way) and Longcoat was standing about five feet from her.)  
"Now then Lucy. As I said before, the art of disguise is-"

"Essential to detective work and a necessary skill to our work" Lucy muttered as she easily summed up what Longcoat had just said two minutes ago.

Longcoat took this in stride and continued. "Exactly. Now since you yourself have proof that the victims came from Fletcher's you need to head there in the guise of a valley girl so you can have a better look at what's going on."  
"But why-" Lucy began.

"Hold it." Longcoat said, cutting her off before she could say more "You need to get in character before I send you out for this."  
A grin spread beneath his mask as he continued "So I'll keep interrupting you until you speak in a valley girl accent…which mannerisms as well"  
Lucy's eye twitched in annoyance as she proceeded to swallow her pride and…

"Like. Why can't Daisy do this? She's like soooooo more into this fashion thing than I am."  
Longcoat chuckled a second as he made a mental picture of Lucy as a valley girl, taking as much of an effort as he could to restrain his laughter.

"I'm sending her too. I think it'd go better if you and her both did this…plus I've been waiting for a chance to teach you how to disguise yourself.  
"Oh" he said, reaching behind his back and pulling something else out "Here's a little something that should help you out…"

Present time

Lucy snuck a glance at her left paw and silently marveled at the device Longcoat gave her to change her very fur color.

Just before she'd left his dojo, Longcoat handed her what seemed like an ordinary wig that made her look as if she had pigtails…but actually made it look like her fur was bright red rather than white.

She was glad that she was disguised. If anyone from her school actually saw her do this she'd never hear the end of it.

She'd been called into the office of a consultant who'd apparently thought her interesting enough to hire.

Lucy wasn't too experienced with fashion agencies, nor did she give two shits about them but she was hoping whoever called her in wouldn't be one of those sleazy male freakbags like in the movies.

She entered the office and saw the office Longcoat said he was hiding in (Lucy guessed he was in the air shaft…either that or the filing cabinet) and saw a well dressed woman (a female white cat) behind a well organizied desk.  
Lucy smiled inwardly, she was sure she wouldn't be hit on by some creepo.

Boy was she wrong.

"Sit down" the cat said (in what sounded to Lucy like a Hungarian accent) as Lucy did so in a rather comfy looking chair in front of the desk.

When Lucy sat down she began to feel a predatory glare from the woman behind the desk.

The woman began to smirk as she cast a quite obvious glance towards Lucy's breasts "So you vant to be a model eh?"

Lucy swallowed uncomfortably and put on her best valley girl impression "Like, yeah."  
"Vell we at Fletcher's are alvays looking for girls with…assets like yours.

"Und I happen to have done modeling myself in my past. You vouldn't mind hearing a little advice vould you?"  
Lucy began to try and figure out what to say, she had realized rather quickly that the woman was a lesbian or something, and that it was obvious that she had to think up something lest the operation end before it began.  
So she decided on the one action available to her at the moment.

"Like…I guess so…"

Longcoat's Lair: 2:30 PM

"AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO INSULTED IN ALL MY LIFE!" Lucy yowled, outraged at what she'd gone through earlier in the day.  
Longcoat was looking through a book labeled "Death Note" (allegedly evidence in the investigations towards finding a being known as Kira) and said (not looking up) "Well at least you'll be going back tomorrow."  
Lucy's fur began turning red (and not because of the device if you get my meaning) "Why the fuck is that good?! I'm not looking forward to being felt up by that lesbian a second time!"

"I was looking through the appointment book I pinched from the office. Seems all the victims had meetings with Fletcher's the day they died."  
He put down his book and pulled his mask off. He reached to his head to make sure "mask hair" hadn't set in before continuing.  
"So, for better or for worse, we'll see if there is a connection between Fletcher's and the plant killings…"

Downtown Roseville 9: 23 AM

Lucy grumbled inwardly as she trod down towards Fletcher's, already she'd had to put up etc. with a bunch of pervs who fell for her disguise and made some rather lewd offers to her.

Her valley girl disguise was back on, only now she was wearing a skimpier outfit than before so she could keep her cover up.

Longcoat's plan was that since the victims were all attacked on their way to Fletcher's, Lucy would head there herself again and become like bait.

But even though the outfit was part of Longcoat's plan, Lucy saw one big problem with it…the propositions she was undergoing from various horny men were really starting to piss her off.

Looking to her right she noticed a gritty, dirty and downright filthy allyway but no men inside it. Making a quick turn, she ducked down the allyway and sighed with relief that if she had any luck there'd be no more perverts this way.

The ally looked like nothing even vaguely resembling soap had even glanced at it (if soap were alive anyways), graffiti was littered all over the walls…and Lucy was getting the kind of ominous feelings a slut would get in a slasher film.

As if to reassure her suspicions that she was in complete and utter mortal danger, several massive vines sprang up from the ground behind her.

Lucy took off in a run from the murderous flora, with said plants springing up behind her…almost as if it were chasing her.

'Yep' Lucy thought 'Today is an utter shitfest.'

Lucy knew that if she weren't careful her whole body would end up as plant food, somebody was trying to kill her and she didn't know why.

And she wouldn't find out who if she died, Lucy quickly reached behind her back for the herbicide Longcoat had given her. The vines however were quicker than Lucy had thought and proceeded to grab her arms and legs.

Lucy's body was being hoisted up in the air, presumably to tear her body apart. The life Lucy never had began to flash before her eyes (she particularly liked the best where she stuffed Mike into a massive slingshot and shot him at a large mountain with no protection at all.)  
Just as all hope seemed lost she heard a loud screeching sound, managing to turn her hair she saw that something had hit the vines and was causing them to wither and die.  
"NO!" Screamed a voice Lucy found disturbingly…familiar.

"My baby has failed me! I'll be back you flea bitten bitch! My beauty won't be denied!"

What was left of the vines began to retract back into the hole and cover it. Lucy herself was let go and fell towards the ground.

After landing on her feet, Lucy looked back towards the vines; the hole had been covered up and for the most part could be cut away.

Lucy decided to pursue her attacker through the sewer system, reaching behind her back to grab her Ice Queen suit she looked around to make sure she was alone…and noticed something interesting atop a nearby roof.

There was a female cat about as old as she was in a white jumpsuit and mask. She'd turned and ran off when Lucy saw her.

Lucy's eyes narrowed at this new character, she didn't know who she was and made a mental note to find out.

First she'd have to find the murderer and stop her…and she had a pretty good idea where to find her.

For the voice sounded a lot like a girl she saw back at Fletcher's…the voice of Sandy.


	14. Another Cog in the murder machine

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

Longcoat's Lair: 2:34 PM

Lucy (in her ice Queen outfit) drummed her fingers against Longcoat's easy chair as she waited for her boss to be done.

The previous day she was attacked by a bunch of sentient vines that tried to rip her in two. As it happened though, she nearly did die but was saved by a mysterious savior.

The killer had escaped through the sewer system and created a massive wall of flora to cover her escape, Lucy couldn't follow her but she did take a sample of the plants.

Longcoat helped her get out of the appointment she'd made by pretending to be her doctor and claiming she was traumatized at her near-death. Lucy did find it funny from Longcoat (in a cat outfit) hit on the woman who had herself hit on Lucy earlier.

She used the gear in Longcoat's lair to analyze the plant and found that there were trace amounts of nanites inside it.

Lucy recognized these specific nanites as having been similar to the ones that created villains like Huma the Firebird. Longcoat himself was examining it to make sure it was nanites.

"Well you're right chica" Longcoat said as he examined the nanites with a microscope "These really are nanites…and if I'm right it seems to mutate plants and animate them as well.

"Who the Hell has this?"

Lucy pulled the mask off her head and sighed "I think it's Sandy."

Longcoat paused and rose up from his chair, he turned towards Lucy and pulled off his mask, he was looking deadly serious and stared right towards Lucy with his blue eyes.

"And why do you say that? Did you see her?"  
Lucy rose a suspicious eyebrow "No but the killer sounded a lot like her."  
Longcoat sighed "Lucy…please don't do anything rash."  
Lucy was still confused "What?"  
She saw that Longcoat wasn't joking this time; he was truly concerned for her.

"Lucy, when shit like this gets personal your emotions could get in the way.  
"You say it is Sandy, but I have another question…what if she isn't? I'd be careful if I were you so that nobody else gets hurt."  
Longcoat turned back to his stuff "I'll be making something that can block the effects of these nanites, once it's ready all you have to do is inject it into whoever the fuck is controlling these plants.  
"I'll have one sample ready today but I'll have another tomorrow, so I wouldn't advise trying to get her today..."

Downtown 3:45 PM

"…And I still don't know who saved me."  
Lucy had called Daisy to come with her to practice scaling buildings sans rope. While helping her learn how to grip the brick just right, the two of them had gotten on the subject of her mysterious rescue earlier that day.  
"Wow. That was convenient, you sure you didn't get a good look at this girl?"  
Lucy groaned inwardly this was the fifth time Daisy had asked this "No. I didn't get a good enough look to determine it was a girl, and that was only a guess. For all I fucking know it could be a transvestite."

Daisy paused a second before selecting another sturdy looking brick for ascension "Anyways, are you going to the party tonight?" said Daisy as she changed the topic to something Lucy didn't even know about.  
"What party?" Lucy questioned.

"That one the school's having, apparently that girlfriend of Mike's somehow got them to let her hold a party there, I dunno how she did it though."  
"Wait a minute, did you say Sandy's doing it?"  
Daisy was confused by this "Yes…but I thought you-"  
"Hate her? You're damn right I do…and I think she might be the killer we're looking for…"

Roseville High: 9:32 PM

Lucy tried not to focus on the smell of the locker she was currently hiding in.

She smirked to herself as she remembered when she convinced Longcoat to hand her the sample of the nanite jammer from hus stuff, though granted it was surprisingly easy to do it.  
Lucy had been waiting near the women's bathroom out in one of the halls for some time; she'd been staking out the building for awhile and found Sandy had gone to the bathroom a few minutes ago.

Wanting to make sure she left an impression on her, Lucy had hidden in a locker across from the bathroom and wait for her to leave.

Lucy was quite glad that Mike had chosen to stay with the party, she wasn't sure if she could handle both of them at the same time.

As Lucy began to ponder what Longcoat had said earlier about making things personal, she heard the door open and realized that her moment was upon her.

Waiting half a minute or so she quietly opened the locker and slipped out into the highway.

Pulling out a miniature crossbow from hammerspace and loading the syringe containing the much lauded serum and aimed it right at Sandy.  
"Freeze bitch" Lucy growled, doing her best not to smirk as the startled and confused Sandy turned around to see what was going on.  
Lucy kept the crossbow pointed at her unknowing rival as she reached behind her back to pull another item out, this time being a tri-corder of sorts.

Lucy had earlier set it to look for nanites in the bloodstream (well actually Longcoat did most of it, all Lucy knows is how to run the machine) and ordered the machine to make said action.

A grin spred up on Lucy's face as she saw that Sandy's body was just flooded with them.

"Well, well, well…it seems I've found my killer."  
"No you didn't" said an angry voice Lucy recognized all too well…Mike's.

Lucy turned around to see Mike (as the Silver Sentinel) hovering behind her and she could tell he was pissed.

Sandy was glad that he'd appeared in the nick of time. Lucy however was pissed "What the fuck are you doing? I've been looking for the plant killer!"  
"That's not her" Mike growled.

"And why are you so sure?"  
"Because she's my partner."  
Lucy's face fell "P-partner?" She muttered in a timid sort of voice that seemed almost comical, the confused kitty turned around and saw…that Sandy had suddenly had a gold version of Mike's armor on.

Lucy was confused immensely, only to regain her composure when she suddenly realized what Longcoat was talking about earlier.

"But I heard what the killer sounds like, her voice sounds an awful lot like hers."  
"Oh my God! I actually sound like…her?" Rang out another voice that Lucy recognized.

The ground beneath them exploded and a large tree began to raise out of the ground, and sitting on one of it's branches was a cocker spaniel in a skimpy pink outfit…who Lucy recognized all too well.

She didn't expect a total airhead like Katie to be the plant killer…


	15. Teenagers Scare the Living shit outta me

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

"You!" Lucy growled, her surprise being very brief "You're the plant killer?"  
"Not killer! Not killer!" Katie yelled out "I just wanted revenge!"  
"Revenge for what?" Lucy skeptically said, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"For ruining me! For making that-that lesbian bitch refuse to take me in!" Yelled the jealous bitch (her voice having somehow changed to resemble Sandy's.)  
The Ice Queen was initially confused…then she realized what Katie was talking about.

Apparently Katie had gotten the idea in her head to try and become a model, but every time she approached Fletcher's (when Lucy saw her being thrown out she got the feeling that it had happened before) she got turned down.

Somehow Katie had been mutated into the plant manipulating villainess she is now, and became convinced that the girls who actually did get in were bribing their way in and purposely having her be kept out.

Her response to this was simply to kill those she felt ruined her chance to become a model.

The Ice Queen was overcome with rage, she'd known she was selfish and a bitch but not that she'd go to these lengths just out of jealousy.

Narrowing her eyes towards her she muttered "So they're responsible for ruining you eh? Have you ever considered that the cause of it…was because you're just an ugly bitch?"  
"NNNOOOOOO!" Screamed the cocker spaniel "They caused it! They ruined MMMMEEEEEEE!"

"Sure they did" She said, casually aiming her crossbow at the bitch "The judge won't think so."  
"No judge! No judge!" She roared, a pair of large tree monsters rising out of the floor.

"Die now! Die for saving that Bouncy Hotpants bitch!" She roared again.

Lucy groaned inwardly as Katie brought up the alias she used, how the Hell did Longcoat think these things up? That made her sound like a pornstar or something.

She didn't actually save 'Bouncy' but she wasn't about to let Katie know that.

The tree monsters began to attack Mike and Sandy, making them unable to attack the yellow furred witch that was set on ripping the crime fighter's head off.

"DIE!" Screamed the insane dog as several vines shot out from the hole in the floor.

Lucy didn't need to hide this time, as the vines approached she quickly lept, rolled and spun through the air to dodge the vines as they flew towards her.

Katie was only getting angrier and tried something new, quickly a large amount of vines burst right from the floor and smashed right into the girl cat (alternatively, a cat girl like a giant fist.

The force of the blow sent her flying through the air and right down the hall, Lucy shakily got up and saw the enraged dog storming towards her with more vines…and a large walking plant.

Lucy proceeded to run further down the hall, hoping to get enough distance between her and her 'pets' so she could get out the herbicide.

Which wouldn't be easy at all because Katie was much faster than she thought.

Lucy was hauling ass as fast as she could, but not fast enough to avoid another blow from the 'vine-fist' she was hit by earlier.

The blow threw her through a pair of double doors…and right into the party.

Though looking at the world upside down on her back, the dateless dame could see a large number of teens who were attending this open house event.  
Though they didn't stay long once they got a look at the half naked psychopath pursuing her. As the partygoers ran in all directions, Lucy leapt back up on her feet to confront her adversary.

The villainous bitch narrowed her eyes at Lucy and made her vines sprout thorns. "Like, now it's time to feel a point, 'cause you're getting stabbed with my thorns and all."

Groaning inwardly at Katie spoiling an already bad joke, the Ice Queen looked down to see if she still had the crossbow "Redundant I see you lousy-" Her eyes widened when she realized that the crossbow had been left down the hall.

"Bitch?" The confused crimefighter finished.

"Lets see how…uh, reduntent" mispronounced Katie (whose voice switched to Sandy's inexplicably) "You'll be when I rip you apart!"  
"Don't count on it you stupid, fat, ugly, airheaded bitch!" Rang out another voice Lucy recognized all too well.

Katie didn't apparently and turned around to see who insulted her…and nearly avoided a syringe.

Said syringe flew over Katie's head, and flew towards Lucy. Quickly she reached up and grabbed it, just a look at it and she realized it was the syringe with the blocking serum.

Katie had turned around to face whoever had shot the needle at her, "You!" She bellowed, her voice changing back to its original valley girl form "Die you lousy- GAH!"  
While her back was turned, Lucy chose to do an impromptu adaptation of Krazy Kat, specifically by hurling a brick at Katie's head.

As Katie and the monster she was connected to began to stumble about, Lucy saw down the hallway Katie had been blocking…and saw the same girl who saved her life.

The girl was wearing a white jumpsuit with a purple oval that bore a snowflake insignia on her chest region. Along with a white domino mask and a pair of white flats connected to said jumpsuit. She had a small satchel around her waist and held a bo staff in her left hand, with the crossbow in her right.  
The girl quickly ran over to Lucy "Hello Ice Queen. Let me introduce myself…"  
Lucy rolled her eyes "Hello Daisy."  
Daisy's eyes widened as she realized her disguise didn't fool Lucy "H-how…"  
"Your fur color for starters, along with the fact you knew about the syringe.  
"But the main reason I knew it was you had to be that you didn't even try to disguise your voice."  
"Oops" the cheerleader sheepishly said "I guess I should have- LOOK OUT!"  
They barely managed to avoid several Venus Flytrap heads on vines. Katie had recovered from her brick to the face and was as pissed as before.  
Daisy nimbly dodged another snapping mouth "What the Hell do we do?"  
Lucy grunted before grabbing a flytrap head and twisting its jaws back until it snapped "Distract this bitch! I'll need to be careful with this shot."

"Any suggestions?" Daisy called back as she leapt out of the way of another vine.

"She hates being insulted" Lucy explained while she stuffed a bomb into another flytrap.

Daisy agilely spun out of the way of three flytrap-vines before beginning an open house of mockery.

"Hey valley witch! Is that your face? Or did you sleep in a blender?"  
Katie let out an angry roar and decided not to rely on the plant and just ran after Daisy…but she didn't realize Lucy still had the crossbow until…  
THUNK!  
Katie couldn't actually realize what happened at first, but it wasn't long to realize that her plants wouldn't respond to her…by which time a really, really, really pissed off Lucy had grabbed her by the throat.

"You lousy bitch!" She yelled "You murdered semi-innocent girls just because you couldn't become a model!"  
The Ice Queen threw her to the ground and stomped right down unto her arm.

"Uh…I'm getting scared" A justified Daisy said.

"I won't be long here" Lucy said before turning back to Katie "Now then bitch, you might think you're hot, but you aren't at all. You're just ugly.  
"And if you thought this was a dancefloor then you'd be dead wrong" she added as she lifted the scared spaniel off the ground.  
Pulling her right fist back for a haymaker Lucy growled "This isn't a dancefloor at all…It's an operating table.

"And I'm the surgeon."

TEN MINUTES LATER.

Lucy and Daisy were walking right out of the gym that was previously used for a party.

"Don't you think that was a little much Lu?" Daisy asked as she turned back to see Katie (after the Ice Queen had previously beat the living shit out of her) as she lay in a barely conscious heap.

"Maybe…but her vanity drove her to commit murders" Lucy replied "Though I'm sure insanity was involved somehow."  
"Yeah. And how did she get those nanites? I thought there weren't any more of them ?"

"I'd like to know that as well" Lucy wondered aloud "For now let's just hope the police get here soon, that nanite block won't be on in about an hour."  
She sighed and added "I know I may have been a bit creepy back there, but I've been through a lot today. I've nearly gotten killed, and I've had to put up with that murdering maniac.

"Not to mention I almost wasted that serum earlier when I ambushed Sandy, so I'm a bit on edge, and when I'm on the edge I tend to be more violent.

"Frankly, what I really need is a way to keep from constantly beating people to a pulp before that goes for all criminals."  
"Well" Daisy said, a bit concerned for her friend "You need help with that…then maybe I could come with you more often."  
"Hmm, well alright. Just remember that you'll still need to be trained, so you'll have to do whatever I say."

"Got it" replied the chipper sidekick.  
"By the way" Lucy curiously said "What do you want to call yourself?"

Daisy beamed with pride and tapped the label on her chest "Snowflake."

The Ice Queen's eyes grew wide in surprise "Snowflake? Why the Hell did you call yourself that?"  
"Well" Daisy said "You called yourself the Ice Queen, so I thought it'd be only natural if I were your sidekick or something."  
"Ice Queen isn't referring to snow" Lucy corrected "It was a joke Longcoat gave based on my coldness."  
"Oh" a dismayed Daisy said.

Lucy knew she shouldn't have, but she couldn't resist laughing at this whole situation.

It had been awhile since she'd laughed at anything.  
"Come on Snowflake" she said, calling Daisy by her new alias "Let's go see if anyone else is stupid enough to try and rise trouble tonight…"

The Cryptic's Lair: 11:00 PM

Augustus sat down in his chair and stared off at the television as a news report told of how Katie (or Poison Hemlock as the media had taken to call her) was defeated.

Alejandro (who'd broken out of jail a week ago) was next to him and was downright pissed at this "That furry bitch beat her!"  
A sinister grin grew upon Augustus' face "The fact is, Katie served the important purpose of seeing just how powerful she is for the main operation.  
"Once I figure out who to use, I will select the recipient of my next little toy…Let's see how well Lucy will fare against my new plan…"


	16. One Pill makes You larger

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. And I don't own these leprechauns either, they originated in Aqua Teen Hunger Force.)

The Park: 4:24 PM

"How much longer are we supposed to be here?" Daisy asked Lucy as they hid in a tree, in costume.

Lucy (also in costume) said "Long enough for David to get here."  
"What makes you think he'll be here?"  
"Because" said the Ice Queen, pulling out a tablet computer from hammerspace "David's stupid enough to fall for this."  
She activated it and switched to her e-mail, displaying spam she got that told her to head to the park and get some gold.  
"I think this is connected to those leprechauns said to hide in the woods and mug people with a rainbow machine."  
"I thought they were on Longcoat's world?"  
"Same here but…Wait a minute, David's coming."  
Both girls shut up as David walked right beneath the tree.  
"Oh boy" he cried out, believing himself to be alone "I'm gonna be rich! And then I'll be a babe magnet!"  
"Fat chance" Lucy muttered under her breath.

Lucy looked up and noticed a rainbow just appeared and was moving towards David "Alright Daisy, now's our chance, on the count of three leap with me."  
"Alright" agreed the sidekick, crouching down to prepare for a leap.  
"One" Lucy counted, noticing David's confusion that there was no gold.

"Two" she said, focusing on the rainbow.

"THREE!" She yelled out (much to David's surprise.)  
Like a pair of bullets, Lucy and Daisy shot out of the tree and into the rainbow.

A mysterious force within the rainbow itself pulled them up in an arc towards the woods a mile away.  
David blinked in confusion before grinning perversely "Damn. Those are two hot pussies." He remarked, not realizing how inappropriate that pun was.

Lucy and Daisy landed (on their feet mind you) in the forest and saw a large pile of junk collected by the muggers.

Three leprechauns looked up at the crime fighters in surprise "Yep" Lucy said, a grin forming "I love breaking up pyramid schemes…"  
Of course though, she should have been across town, for unbeknownst to her a murder was about to be committed.

The allyway behind a strip club: The same time.

It had been a month since Katie was imprisoned in Ravenwood Asylum and ever since there's been an ongoing power struggle among the cliques.

And on a hot Summer day like this, Sadie Hawkins (currently running one of the biggest of said cliques) loved to go out and mock everyone who had less money than her.

This sexy young calico had been enjoying herself with making fun of a lot of people (including Lucy, who'd made a mental note to smash her car later) and had left her posse for a second to light up the reefer she kept in her purse.  
She lay down next to a dumpster, puffing on her joint and not having a care in the world…not hearing the footsteps approaching her.

"Enjoying yourself?" Asked a creepy voice out of the air.

"Fuck off" muttered the alpha bitch, not caring at all.

"Well that was rude" the voice said "That was very rude."  
Sadie was about to insult him again when she felt a pain in her gut, looking down she saw a knife stabbing into her gut.  
Now she didn't feel much, but the sight of the knife was enough to instill what some call 'instant sobriety.'

So she did what most people would do in this case.  
She screamed like a little girl.  
The invisible being then began to drag the knife upwards towards her heart "You shouldn't have mocked her" he babbled "She really hates being mocked."

As Sadie's eyes began to close for good she heard screams of terror from down the ally, you see er screams had drawn a crowd of curious onlookers

The Ice Queen might not have shed tears over her death but soon she'd find a reason to investigate this murder…

Author's Note: Now I'd like to address the anonymous reviewer. I know you had some complaints about the previous chapter about the action, but in my defense I was trying to add more action to make it a fitting climax, just like before. This next storyline won't have as much action but there's a good reason for that I'll address later. On another note I'd like to reassure you that under no circumstances will this Fic be stopped until it's done. I plan to finish this and though it may slow down with some updates, it just means it won't be out for a little bit.

Thank you for your ongoing support, best of luck to you.


	17. One Pill makes you Small

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth.)

Longcoat's Lair: 2:32 PM

Lucy shuffled through the Roseville Times with disgust "Appalling" she muttered "Why the Hell do people make such a big deal about murders anyway?"  
Lucy had been reading about the 'Invisible Bastard' reported in the paper and wasn't too pleased about the media circus forming around the murder of Sadie Hawkin.  
Longcoat was nearby in a chair, seeming to be in a lucid fog of sorts (like he'd been all day) "Ah don't worry about it, the media always pulls shit like this."  
Lucy raised an eyebrow at him "What the Hell is up with you? You haven't even spoken of breaking the bones of any criminals today. You sick or something?"  
"No" he said, removing his mask, revealing his brown hair and blue eyes "See, I ran into Rita. Remember her?"  
The confused Lucy looked up from her paper and directed her gaze towards Longcoat "No, who the fuck are you talking about?"  
"That bisexual cat you had to put up with at Fletcher's."  
Lucy threw the paper down in frustration "God! Why did you bring up that les-" though quickly she realized something "Wait. Bisexual? I thought she was gay…more importantly how the Hell do you know she isn't gay?"  
Longcoat's face bore a sly grin (pausing a second to call for Clover) "Cause I was in town yesterday and saved her from some muggers.  
"She was quite grateful…so much in fact we went over to her place and I got fucked senseless."  
Lucy groaned "No wonder you haven't tormented anyone today. You got laid again."  
"Yep" he said "Crime should be rejoicing today, 'cause ol' Longcoat's in too good a mood to snap bones."  
"Yes" Lucy muttered "Good thing you only got laid four other times in your life. Otherwise the mob would run Chicago again."  
"Why you harshin' my groove Lu'? Aren't you supposed to be out find this "Invisible Bastard' character?"  
Lucy pulled the newspaper back up; glancing at the bottom Clover had taken a bite of on the way to his master "I will, I told Daisy to look at the crime scene. She needs experience in this kind of stuff after all."

The Alleyway behind a strip club: The same time.

Daisy silently thanked the fact the police were taking a lengthy coffee break as she looked over the crime scene.

Her outfit was basically pure white and that stuck out like a sore thumb, Daisy had only taken out her new identity for a month and she was glad she'd known enough to fight in case rapists showed up.

Deciding she ought to get this done with she carefully scaled down from the wall she was perched on and went straight to the ground.

Sadie's corpse was gone, though a notable blood stain was still there. Swallowing nervously she placed the Bo staff she was holding next to her and reached into her satchel to pull out a tricorder.

Daisy switched the machine on and decided to try and take Lucy's advice of scanning for energy signatures first.

As she stood over the scene she was oblivious to the steps of a shadowy figure sneaking up on her with a knife.

Until it was directly behind her that is.

Realizing at that moment somebody was behind her, Daisy quickly drew back her elbow and smashed the intruder with it.

The man stumbled backwards and Daisy turned around to face him…and much to her surprise she couldn't see anybody there.  
"That was mean" rang out a creepy voice from seemingly no where "Now I'll have to rip out your guts just like this last bitch…"


	18. Remember what the Dormouse said

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Longcoat's Lair: 3:30 PM

"…And then there were Frenchy and Francesca."

"They were those poodles you boned in that three way weren't they?" Lucy muttered, getting tired of Longcoat talking about the other times he'd gotten laid.  
"Yep, so with Brenda Springer, Zig-Zag, and that Asian hooker I rescued on my Earth. And last night's encounter, I've had sex with six total babes."

"And you'll never shut up about it either. When will you stop talking about sex today?"  
Longcoat shrugged "I don't know, probably after a blow to the head."  
Lucy blinked as she realized how easily she could have fixed this and pulled a brick out of hammerspace.

Taking a breath she did her best surprised impersonation and yelled out "Oh my God! Angelina Jolie is in here! And she's naked!"  
Longcoat sprang up at this and had his back turned to Lucy.

Lucy wound up and was about to throw the brick when Daisy entered through the entrance in Lucy's house.

She was sweaty and out of breath, and had been stabbed in the left arm (though she had no knife stuck in it) her outfit was still on and Lucy was hoping nobody had seen her enter her home.  
"Daisy! What happened?" asked the astonished Lucy.

Daisy sighed "The Cheshire Cat happened…"

One hour ago behind the Strip Club.

Daisy blinked as she looked at the invisible man (well looking at him, she couldn't see what he looked like) "You! You're the Invisible Bastard aren't you?"  
The invisible cat groaned "Not name! Not Name!" he screamed almost childishly "I'm a Cheshire Cat!"  
Daisy felt a sharp pain go through her arm as a knife stabbed into it, despite her efforts not to she let out a shriek of pain…but that didn't stop her from throwing a punch into the air.

Now the Cheshire Cat managed to dodge this but he didn't however dodge the knee that subsequently hit him in the gut.

"I'll rip you up" he shrieked "Just like I do to the other bitches!"

Pulling the knife out of her arm, Daisy grabbed her staff and swung it through the air, like before hitting nothing. A fist flew right into her face, unlike the knife though it didn't even really hurt her, whoever this Cheshire Cat was, he hit like a girl (and not one like Lucy.)  
Daisy however managed to knee him again, finally grabbed him and was about to follow it up with a punch when she heard another noise that she didn't like the sound of at all.  
"FREEZE!" Yelled a police officer (who had just returned from his coffee break along with two others) that happened to be pointing a gun at both the masked marvel and the crazed killer.

Daisy was perplexed by this and paused momentarily. And it took just that moment for the Cheshire Cat to struggle out and rush past the cops.

Now they knew he was there but nobody expected him to hurriedly rush past like they weren't there.

Daisy knew they didn't take kindly to vigilantes like her, so while they were confused she quickly threw a smoke bomb to the ground, flipped open a nearby manhole and scaled the wall in a fear based fury of speed.

She'd nearly gotten arrested, and she did get stabbed…but Daisy had gotten something that would help Lucy considerably.

Longcoat's Lair: Present time.

"Cheshire Cat?" Lucy questioned aloud "Fitting.  
"We're dealing with a crazy aren't we?" She added.

"He is for sure. When I fought him he seemed like some kind of…psycho manchild."  
Lucy stroked her chin and her face fell as she remembered Daisy's wound again "I'm sorry this happened Daisy. I didn't know he'd return."  
"Well I didn't think he'd be there. What kind of idiot returns to the scene of the crime?"  
Lucy stroked her chin again. "That's right! Who'd return to a murder scene they made? He didn't even take anything."  
Longcoat (who'd been stroking Clover most the time) turned towards them "Oh just go back! I have an idea of why he did it."  
Lucy groaned at her currently lucid master "And that idea is…?"

Behind the Strip Club: 3:56 PM

"That is without a doubt the stupidest reason to return I have ever heard" Lucy groaned, referring to Longcoat's suggestion that the killer had returned to vandalize the site.  
Lucy and Daisy had been running back to the murder site, using the rooftops for rapid transit without being seen. Daisy might have been wounded but she hadn't slowed down one bit.

"I dunno" Daisy added "Remember how crazy Longcoat is."  
"True, but I mean criminal- Oh my God."  
Lucy had stopped in her tracks. They'd stood at the edge of a roof…and in the alley below the scene of the murder.  
On the wall there was a little haiku saying…

_The Bitch is now dead._

_She will not be the last one._

_Her posse is now next._

_Signed the Cheshire Cat._

Lucy's eye twitched "Great, now I have to defend people who enjoy mocking me.

"If there is a God, he has a nasty sense of humor…"


	19. I'm Still Painting Flowers For You

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

The rooftops of Roseville: 4:23 PM

Rooftop transit may not be the best way to travel but in the daytime it was less conspicuous to travel via the buildings.

Lucy's mind was firing all the cylinders as she tried to figure out where the Cheshire Cat would strike next.

Daisy was right behind her and as she was less used to this she was a bit out of breath.  
"Could we stop?" The panting pussycat asked Lucy.

Lucy was about to tell her to keep up and continue her on the spot training of rooftop jumping but realized she didn't know where they needed to go.

"Alright" she said "Let's take a breather."

Daisy sighed with relief as she began to lay down on the flower shop roof they were on.

Lucy did the same but unlike Daisy who just lay down on her back, she sat cross-legged as she began to think.

Lucy was sure that the victims the Cheshire Cat was seeking were Sadie's friends but Lucy didn't know where they were hanging out.

"If I were a spoiled, jerkassish valley bitch were would I hang out?" Lucy wondered aloud.

Daisy thought for a few seconds and then replied "Maybe at the mall."  
"That was rhetorical" Lucy said "But that does sound like it'll work."  
Daisy's spirits lifted up "Then let's go there!"  
"We could, but what if the Cheshire Cat is targeting more people than them?"  
"But who else would he be after?" The confused cheerleader asked.

"Well he attacked Sadie and threatened her friends, and they were known to-"

Her voice trailed off as she began to realize something "Insult me" she said lowly.  
"What is it?" Daisy asked again.

"I think I know what his pattern is..."

Mike's House: 6: 43 PM

As much as Lucy hated doing so, she and Daisy were hiding in a tree outside Mike's house.

Lucy wasn't sure if this 'Cheshire Cat' would figure out the feud she and Mike were having, but she had a guess about the identity of the killer and if she was right she would be deeply surprised if he didn't know it.  
Mike was the only person in the house at the moment, his siblings were out seeing a movie with their mother, while his father was at work. Sandy was out of town at the moment so Lucy could count on no unexpected surprised as she worked.

"Lucy" Daisy whispered "Are you sure about this?"  
"Positive" Lucy hissed "Now quiet, if he is here I'll need absolute concentration to hear him."  
Lucy returned to her work and strained her ears for the sound of someone walking through the grass.

As much as she'd have liked to let this villain take Mike's life (she still hadn't gotten over December) she had to find this criminal fast before he switched targets from people who'd wronged Lucy to innocents.

Lucy lay back on the branch and began to think on her recent past, the near suicide, the change into the Ice Queen, and the ten months she'd spent beating the living shit out of people.

She wondered whether or not it was a good idea, after all she did grow stronger like Longcoat promised but how was this work affecting Lucy's soul? Was it eroding it and making her more interested in fighting than saving lives? Making her no better than some kind of sadistic opportunist rather than the heroine she believed she was?  
As her brain worked on this question she almost missed hearing the sound of footsteps coming from a man who couldn't be seen.  
Her ears perked up and she realized this discussion would have to wait for later, because the mouse (metaphorically speaking) had taken the cheese and the trap was ready to spring…

(Cue anime announcer voice) Next time on Beware the Ice Queen: The Cheshire Cat revealed, some people will do anything for love.


	20. Her name is Lucy!

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Mike was bored out of his skull as he surfed through the considerable number of channels his TV supplied.

He was frustrated by the murder of Sadie Hawkins at the hands of an invisible being. Mike had recently picked up the latest update on the case through LEGACY's monitoring of the police CB.

Why he called himself the Cheshire Cat he didn't know but Mike was determined to figure out what this maniac was after.

He was about to settle on a show to watch when he heard the front door slam open.  
"Uh…Hello?" The cat asked as he wondered who came in. Mike rose from his couch and walked through to the front door…and saw nobody.

Mike shrugged and turned around. When. All of a sudden…he felt a sharp pain in his back.

He felt a sharp pain in his body characteristic of a powerful magnet. And since that was really the only thing that could harm LEGACY when he was in this state he knew right away that this wasn't your average intruder.

"Michael Pattel. You have hurt the goddess" hissed a voice Mike could have sworn was familiar "For this you must DIE LIKE A DOG" the familiar voice roared.

Mike was in total fear. He'd been in danger many times but this was unlike anything he'd experienced before. A feeling of total helplessness.  
He could almost see the life he never had flashing before his eyes. He realized his life was over at the hand of some kind of monster.

However he was about to realize that he was wrong on that front.

"Nobody's dying tonight" said the bone chilling voice of the Ice Queen, Mike could swear he heard something of a growl in it as it continued "And your time is up Cheshire Cat.

"Or should I say…Carter Randolph."  
There was a dead silence in the air…then slowly a new person appeared in the room.

He appeared to be a skinny teenager wearing some sort of cybernetic bodysuit that was bright purple. On his face there was a demented smiley face mask that looked like a lunatic had made it, there appeared to be rings painted on his tail too. But despite this whole disguise Mike realized almost immediately that he was looking right at Lucy's old stalker, Carter Randolph.

Lucy was glaring beneath her mask as she looked onward at a cat who couldn't get the hint when someone was just creeped out by them. She thought Carter had moved months ago, and yet there he was, standing over her former friend with a knife, intent on killing again.

Carter turned towards the Ice Queen (oblivious to the fact she was his crush) "No! No! NO! Nobody will stop Carter. Not even you!"  
She didn't even flinch "You murdered somebody Carter. She was a bitch but that wasn't an excuse for this. Put down the knife or I'll shove it up your ass."

Carter just stood. Not moving so much as a muscle (and slightly unnerving the Ice Queen.)  
After what seemed like a minute he spoke in an eerily calm, slow voice.

"Not if I kill you first."  
Carter turned invisible again. Daisy (remembering her last fight with him) went on the alert immediately, as did the Ice Queen.

There was an air of tension as they awaited Carter's attack. Knowing he could strike at any moment.

After about thirty seconds, she heard the sounds of Carter running and he was heading right for her.

She tensed up and realized Carter had leapt right at her, so not waiting a second she threw a punch into what might have appeared to be empty air but actually had an invisible psychopath that thought of carving the Ice Queen up like a Christmas goose.  
Carter flew backwards and hurriedly sprang back up with a hiss, lunging towards Lucy again.  
She anticipated the same attack and attempted to prepare for an attack on her upper body.

Carter however, while crazy, was not stupid at all. So instead he lunged right for her legs.  
The Ice Queen tumbled down and chastised herself inwardly for falling. Daisy however leapt right over Lucy…and accidentally delivered a kick into thin air.  
Our heroine felt Carter pounce right on top of her. Realizing what he'd been trying to do earlier, she assumed he was planning yet another attempt to gut her.  
Fortunately for her, she realized something about the position she was in and came on a strategy based on the position of Carter's hands and some estimating.

With little time to lose, she enacted this plan immediately.  
"FILTHY WHORE!" Carter yowled as the Ice Queen's knee flew right up into his groin, inducing a great deal of pain in his family jewels.

Carter stumbled right off Lucy and got smacked in the head by Daisy's staff.  
The shock was good enough for Carter to unwittingly turn off the machine (psionic controls can be a bitch at times.)  
No sooner did he become visible, the enraged object of the murdering fiend's affection pounced on him and strongly ripped out a large coil she saw on his back before he turned invisible.  
Lucy growled at him "You're finished cat. If I were you I'd invest in a good straitjacket."  
"No" Carter wailed. "I Cannot fail. She needs me, she needs poor Carter!"  
Lucy's eyes narrowed "And pray tell. Who is this, 'she'?" she asked, even though she had a pretty good idea what he was talking about.  
"LUCY!" Carter screeched out "It was Lucy. She needs me, she'd have loved me for delivering the heads of everyone who ever wronged her."  
Now our defrosting ice queen had a feeling this was his motive. As soon as she realized it was Carter who did this she realized he was probably singling out people who Lucy had a beef with.

Carter was exactly the kind of person who would think he could win her love this way. And exactly the kind of person who wouldn't realize it'd have the opposite effect.  
"Now you listen to me you worthless, God forsaken, flea bitten, asscunt" Lucy growled in a completely pissed and furious voice as she raised her fist up "There are ways to win people" SMACK! "But.." POW! "Murder.." KRACK! "Isn't one of them you SON OF A BIIIITCH!"  
After insulting both Carter and his mother Lucy proceeded to start beating Carter within an inch of his life with just her bare hands.

Her merciless beatdown shocked both Mike and Daisy as the superheroine exacted revenge for all the shit Carter caused with his madness.  
As the white furred avenger broke his arm she heard him moaning something that chilled Lucy to the bone, something that made him sound like more like a scared, helpless little kitten than a psychotic assassin.  
"No! Carter can't lose Lucy! Carter is lost without her. Please stop-"

Lucy continued to beat him up but his words were something that haunted Lucy the rest of the day.

"Weren't you being a little harsh?" Daisy nervously said as they left Mike's house.

The cat used a rag to wipe some of Carter's blood off her clothes "Snowflake" she began, using Daisy's handle in case someone was listening "Carter murdered people in the psychotic hope of getting me to love him. How he got that suit I don't know but I can see where he'd think murder was the key to getting me."  
She sighed "Carter deserved what he got."  
Daisy noticed Lucy was a little worried about something. "There's something else isn't there. Why are you bothered?"  
Lucy was about to deny it but thought better of it "It-it's just this. I don't know how to say this, but while I was beating Carter. He sounded…I don't know, like me.  
"I'm just wondering. If I didn't become…this. Would I have turned out like him? L-like some maniac so unbelievably pathetic he thinks killing people can find him love?"  
Lucy almost began to cry when Daisy grabbed her arm. The blond cat was worried "Lu- Ice Queen…Carter didn't have any friends. Did you know that? He knew a couple people but from what I heard, he never really opened up to them.  
"You don't have to worry about being a killer. I'm here to help you, just like Paulo, and Aby and even David too. If you need any help, I'll do whatever I can to help you."  
Lucy sniffed "Thanks."  
The hero was glad for the reassurance her friend gave her. "Let's go. Mike already called the police so It'd be a good idea if we ran for it."  
"Good point" Daisy added.  
As both cats ran over to a building to initiate parkour the Ice Queen noticed (out of the corner of her eye) somebody down the street who appeared to be watching them. But a second later he was gone.

Thinking nothing of it, Lucy joined her friend as they rushed right to a house and took a mighty leap…

Augustus shook his head as he walked away from the neighborhood. "Pathetic. He didn't even succeed in killing more than one stupid bitch even with my help."  
"Still, he'll do well for what I need him to do, this last one had better work…


	21. Pumped up Kicks

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Slums 1:12 AM

The Roseville slums were often known for the gangs roaming it at night, in search of victims to rob, rape or murder, or (which was often the case) all three.  
The Skullfuckers was one such gang and currently was running for their lives.

About a minute ago they were in the process of trying to beat up a cat stupid enough to wander into their territory (it was an all dog gang and they were known to hate cats).  
And it was a minute ago that some mysterious figure jumped down from a roof and tried to shoot them up.

They had ten dogs in it then but now it was limited to the leader, a Doberman and a sheepdog with dreadlocks whose name he forgot.  
The two were currently trying to get to said domerman's car and get out of there, the end of the allyway said ambush started in was almost over and the car was well within their grasp.

"Almost there" the vile Doberman muttered to himself, determined to avoid what could most certainly become his death.  
Of course all the determination in the world can't help you if your car just explodes.

Which it did.

As Lou and the sheepdog looked on at the smoking, burning wreckage there was a gunshot and the sheepdog fell.  
Lou looked on in horror as the cat who single-handedly laid waste to his gang walked right over the burning wreckage with absolutely no fear of burns at all.  
Lou was still in shock when a bullet tore right through his spine.  
"There. That should keep any silly ideas like say…escape out of your mind."  
The cat's voice sounded like it was mechanically altered…and jolly. Like it enjoyed the wanton massacre he'd just done.

He could now see the cat had some kind of mask that resembled a growling bear's head on his mouth, and bandages covering the rest of it. The cat wore a longcoat, military boots and a blast jacket for good measure.

"Wh-what do you want with me?" The gangster weakly asked.  
"Hehe. What do I want?" The cat laughed "It isn't about what I want. It's about blood. Blood." BANG! "For Johnny Silence…"

The Docks: 3:32 AM

It had been about a month since Carter was thrown into the asylum and Lucy was pleased for the fact crime had gotten relatively quiet.

It was on nights like tonight that people would go out with their friends to party for hours.  
Lucy on the other hand took more pleasure in beating drug dealers with a sledgehammer.  
At the moment she was inside a warehouse that currently contained her, twelve drug dealing gangster cats (of which only four were conscious) and about ten million dollars worth of marijuana.  
Lucy perched herself atop of a large stack of drugs and looked down at the confused thugs as they looked for her.

Noticing a straggler about ten feet away from the others, she leapt into the air and delivered a flying kick into him.  
The gangster flew through the air and landed into another pile of drugs that entombed him in weed and plastic bags.  
As the others began to turn, Lucy threw her sledgehammer like a javelin. Right into the gut of another gangster.

As the thugs turned, Lucy ran at them as quick as she could, clearing a ten foot distance in almost no time at all.

Zooming towards them, she delivered a right cross to the closest gangster and knocked out so cold he might as well have skinny dipped in the Artic Ocean.

The last gangster tried to train the submachine gun he had on her when she quickly yanked the gun out of his hands and smashed him right in the face with it.  
As the last thug went off to meet Mr. Sandman Lucy smirked at her handiwork.

Lucy had just finished dragging the last thug out of the warehouse. While most people wouldn't even bother she had an obligation to do it since she'd just poured five gallons of gasoline all over the dope.

Pulling out some rope for hogtying purposes (and a few matches to burn the building down) Lucy stopped after realizing a friend was nearby.  
"Hello Daisy" addressed the crime fighting kitty as she went back to start the hogtying.  
Daisy was worried "Uh Lucy. Could you hurry up here? I got some bad news."  
Lucy raised a curious eyebrow as she focused on tying a knot (not in marriage) "What is it this time?"  
"I was going through town and I heard this, there was a gang massacre in the slums…and it looks like a supercriminal did it."  
Lucy paused at this. "Huh, I knew I'd have to deal with another one at some point.  
"Hang on a sec. I'll look into this just as soon as I finish up here…"

(Author's note: After reading the newest BBC comics I realized..that in hindsight this is actually kinda funny, I make a fanfiction where Lucy attempts suicide, while in the comics she's acting like she might try it. I hope she doesn't though.)


	22. You've got some nerve coming out here

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Slums: 4:37 AM

Daisy might have lost some sleep over the slaying of a bunch of gangbangers but Lucy wouldn't at all, especially given the fact these ones had a fondness for rape.  
That said, when our heroine got there she was genuinely disturbed at what she saw.

She was looking over the scene before the police got there and Daisy was playing the role of backup on the roofs.

"Good God!" Lucy exclaimed as she examined how some of the gangbangers were shot "This was no ordinary killing. Whoever did this was jumping around like a flea."  
The Ice Queen pulled out a surgical kit and began to eye one of the bullet holes "Let's see what our friend likes for killing."  
Lucy got to work in removing a couple of bullets, doing her best to get them out without damaging the body enough to hinder those who later examined the cadavers any more…

Longcoat's Lair: 9:14 AM

"And you couldn't have come here sooner, why?" Longcoat asked in a joking tone, referring to how long Lucy had waited before coming to him.  
Lucy yawned "I told you already, I had to nap first…I don't know how you stay awake so long."  
Longcoat shrugged "Beats me, I never really thought about it. Sometimes I can go all night. But sometimes I get some kinda energy crash'r something and just fall asleep after a long time.  
"I'm just glad criminals are too terrified of my methods to even think of harming me when I'm asleep."  
Lucy tried to think about a catty remark she could give about that but decided against it and focused on the bullet she was analyzing.

As far as she could tell, it didn't belong to anybody. The bullets didn't match up with any known shell in the registry, there were no recently reported ammunition thefts, and if Lucy didn't know any better she'd have sworn they were homemade.  
Problem with that however was that these bullets were too good to be homemade, the presence of some rare metals that were illegal in most countries and trace amounts of depleted uranium gave her the impression it was from some military prototype.

So unless a military company was directly funding this guy for some reason Lucy didn't have any real idea where they came from.

"Goddamn it." She muttered "There's nothing here. Absolutely nothing that could lead me to this son of a bitch."  
She pounded her fist against the analyzing table in frustration, Longcoat saw this and chuckled to himself.

"Lucy. There's a very easy way to do that…just wait until he shows up again…"

The next day: First National Bank: 2:34 AM

After its attempted looting by Alejandro three months earlier, the bank recovered from the damages as if it hadn't even been harmed at all.

The men and women going about their everyday activities (making deposits, taking deposits, or in one case banging a secretary over their desk) were oblivious to the danger roaming around them.

This danger came from a cat who slinked inside wearing a red hoodie and a trenchcoat, and while some were suspicious of him nobody would realize how right they were until it was too late.  
The cat had a large bag that (to the observer) looked like it was full of money, coins to be precise.  
As you might have already guessed, it was none other than Johnny Silence.  
Johnny spied a vacant bench and sat by himself, calmly watching people go by.  
"What a lovely day" the killer thought aloud, casually feeling the pistols in his jacket "The scenery for a doomsday."  
The cat calmly stood up, cracked his knuckles…and then pulled out his guns, proceeding to shoot a pair of men dead.  
It took the people about two or three seconds to realize what had happened but by then he'd sent about four more people to the judgement.  
Security guards rushed in to try and restore order only for six more bodies to join the dead.

Pandemonium reigned as Johnny Silence continued to massacre the pedestrians trying to escape…but it wasn't long before he heard a sonic boom and realized…

"Ah, the shining knight returns" he muttered as he reached over to his bag and pulled out some gun components. Hurriedly assembling them like his immortal soul depended on it.

The gun was assembled in half a minute, and it took about half that time for Johnny to pull it up…and shoot Mike (as the Silver Sentinel) out of the air, mere seconds before he would have punched him square in his piehole.  
Mike (who didn't at all expect to get shot down) hit the ground and dragged a large trail in it. As he struggled to get up he heard another shot and a large chunk of the ceiling fell on him.

"Ah. Did you know a little secret herr cat?" Johnny Silence chuckled as he skipped over towards the fallen hero. "It is often victory that defeats people."  
Johnny Silence smirked beneath his mask as he placed his gun right up to Mike's temples…and then turned to shoot Sandy (as the Golden Guardian) out of the air as well.  
"And now we have both the beauty" Johnny chuckled, pointing towards Sandy "And the beast" said he, this time pointing towards Mike.  
Johnny Silence's hidden grin began to dull however when he realized that he just shot the only other people there.

"Oh fuck. It seems all our company has left. Is there nobody left to kill?"

But there happened to be about six police officers in the surrounding area and Johnny's little rampage had set off every burglar alarm you can think of (and even some that you can't.)  
And it was about then that they chose to make themselves known.

"This is the police!" Came a voice from outside, broadcasted by police loudspeakers "We have the bank surrounded!"  
"Hmm. Speak of the devil" the masked cat chuckled as he reloaded his pistols "Time to spread the word. The word of Johnny Silence!"  
As the cat strode off to commit more murders however he didn't realize what he was about to bring down on himself…

Longcoat's Hideout: Three minutes later.

"Calling all cars!" blared the police radio as it continued to broadcast the sign Lucy was literally waiting for all day "There's a hostage situation at the First National Bank! Perpetrator seems to wear a mask and has already killed all the first responders-"

There was more but Lucy had heard all she needed to. As she turned off the radio she pulled on her mask and began to head for the exit.

This criminal was about to get a taste of the Ice Queen's fury…or so she thought.

Author's Note: To answer the question of the anonymous reviewer, as far as my pairing taste goes I was originally Mike/Lucy now however while I don't rule that out (unlike some fans of BCB) I personally think any of those pairings (save Lucy/Jessica) could work, I don't really have any personal preference in this category. And for that update you anticipate, it could be sooner than you think...


	23. Cruel Angel's Thesis

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Back at the Bank: Ten minutes later

Johnny Silence was having the time of his life.

And Johnny being Johnny, his idea of 'time of his life' involved the mass murder of the many policemen sent to capture him.  
So you could pretty much guess what he was doing right about now.

"Like fish in a barrel" the cat chuckled as he forced a bullet through the skull of a fat pig (literally, his species was a pig) "Today couldn't get better could it?"  
Now here is where a little thing called 'tempting fate' comes into play, because Lucy had been hauling ass to catch the gun totting metahuman (or metafeline in his case) and it was about then that…

KRASH!  
Lucy's bike had zoomed right in and smashed right through the wreckage of a police car Johnny had shot the Hell out of.

Johnny turned to face the bike as it roared in, barely managing to dodge what otherwise would have been a fatal collision.  
The masked cat whirled around and landed nimbly on his feet. Lucy however had the unfortunate mishap of getting her bike stuck in the wall.  
Johnny cocked his head to the side. "What's this now? A little pussy that's lost her way?...Or is it something grander?"  
The creepy inquiry by the carnage causing psychopath didn't faze Lucy as she got off the bike and turned to face him.

Lucy sized up her opponent and noticed that the cat was lanky but also well built too, he didn't look like he could have pulled off the alley massacre looking the way he did without powers.

Not knowing how powerful he was, Lucy chose to take it carefully and took a careful combat stance.

Johnny Silence chuckled mockingly "The Ice Queen I presume? You look…whiter than I expected."  
Lucy didn't even flinch, Johnny took note and reached to draw a gun.  
The second he tried to draw the gun though Lucy lunged towards him and prepared to throw a punch right in the face of the (presumably) genetically altered killer.  
Johnny however had no intention of pulling a gun this time, rather bringing up another fist to punch Lucy square in the face, sending the Ice Queen out of her maddened flight.

"Look before you leap little kitty" the masked loony said as he stood over Lucy, keeping his guard for her inevitable counterattack.

Now she wasn't unconscious but she wasn't going to take this laying down.

Quickly, she attempted to use her legs to sweep Johnny clean off his feet.

Johnny already knew what was going to happen and instead backflipped to avoid the sweep, unintentionally allowing Lucy to stand once more.

No sooner did Lucy get up when Johnny rushed over and slugged her clean in the jaw.

Lucy fought through the pain and attempted a quick punch to Johnny's head only for Johnny to dodge and instead sucker punch her in the gut.

As Lucy staggered back Johnny zipped right over and smashed her face into his knee.

When she tried to recover, Johnny slugged her in the face but this time grabbed her by the mask.

Johnny held her about level to his face and sneered "Pathetic. I haven't even broke your soul yet."  
Drawing his arm back, he threw the Ice Queen back several feet. Lucy hit the ground hard, and as she began to get up Johnny began to walk off towards the remaining two cops.  
Both policecats were previously entranced by the fight between both masked metabeings and barely had any time to react before bullets tore through the air and their heads, forcing their brains out onto the ground.

As Lucy began to get up, she could hear a car screeching off and knew without any doubt at all…that Johnny Silence had gotten free.

Longcoat's lair: Two hours later.

Lucy was sad, not sad like she was last year when her life changed, but instead she was sad that she couldn't stop Johnny in a fight. Nobody could do that, and the only person who came close was Augustus but he was dead now (or so she thought.)  
Slumped in her mentor's chair, Lucy was wondering how the Hell she screwed up. Longcoat's training had changed her in more ways than she'd admit, it turned her from an angsty little tsundere to a force of justice that virtually every criminal in the city was utterly terrified of.

And yet she got beaten up like a cheap whore with a pain fetish.

As she sulked over the defeat, the napping Clover woke up from his sleep and walked over to the white furred warrior, carefully hopping onto her lap.

The tiny monster lowly whined to draw Lucy's attention, the cat began petting Clover as she brooded.  
"Now I know how you felt when Longcoat tamed you. Helpless, utterly help-"

"GET YOUR HEAD OUTTA YOUR ASS!"  
Lucy flew right out of the chair after Longcoat seemingly charged out of nowhere and rammed right into the chair.  
While cats normally land on their feet, this kitty didn't and as she got up she saw (upside down) Longcoat as he stood right atop the chair he'd capsized.  
As Lucy began to raise up Longcoat yelled out "Who the Hell do you think you are?!"  
The cat blinked "Huh? What the Hell is this about?"  
"Lucy" Longcoat began "Did I not teach you how to fight? How to be a badass powerful enough to make crooks across the city fetch their brown pants the moment they see you? Did I or did I not?"  
Lucy, while still confused answered him "Uh…yes?"  
"Then why are you moping? So one lousy cricket beats you up, that's no reason to pull a Shinji!"  
At this Lucy was confused again "A shinji?"  
"He's an anime character, long story shot it means that you're being a whiny little emo bitch!"

Longcoat pulled something from behind her ribbon from behind his back "Tell me Lucy, do you know what this is?"  
The cat tried to give her answer "Uh…My ribbon?  
"WRONG!" Longcoat yelled "This! Is! Your SOUL!  
"So you were beat! So some lousy bottom feeder beat you, well that should fuel you! Prepare you for the next fight! Just pick yourself up and carry on!"  
As Longcoat finished up his outburst he tossed the 'borrowed' ribbon to Lucy "Don't you realize that while you sit here, that maniac could be murdering dozens of innocents? And you could've stopped him?"  
Longcoat began to talk again but Lucy had began to think, yes she was beaten, yes she was humiliated, and yes Johnny had escaped but that didn't mean failure would follow her for good.  
Somebody had to stop this lunatic, and only she (and possibly Daisy) could do it.  
"Get me a gun" Lucy said, interrupting Longcoat's speech "It's time to hunt."  
Longcoat smiled beneath his mask as Lucy got up to prepare for what would soon be her showdown with Johnny Silence...


	24. Think I'm thrown off reason and reality

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

In Longcoat's lair, there was a large computer that most superheroes would use to keep a database on criminals.

He however used it to store his massive video and video game collection.

But Lucy had a separate profile for her own files on criminals, though it wasn't criminal records she was looking through at the moment…

"Well, well, well" Longcoat chuckled "Checking to see who's playing hooky?"  
Lucy quit her search through the school database for a second to return Longcoat's remark "Tell me Longcoat, what did all the superfreaks I've had to deal with have in common?"

Her mentor shrugged "I dunno. What's this gotta do with this dude?"  
"Because every last one of them came from MY SCHOOL…except maybe Alejandro, I'm not sure about him.  
"But for some bizarre reason, all of them came from it and if I can figure who's been missing recently I might just find out who it is."  
Longcoat suddenly realized what she was getting at and grinned approvingly "Clever, and I guess you called Daisy earlier so she could help you on this?"  
"Not really" Lucy said "I needed to know if she was available tonight, I think I might just about know who this 'Johnny' character is."

"You sound pretty confident, kiddo."

"Because I know where to look, after your training-"

"Which you still aren't finished with" Longcoat interrupted.

Carrying on like he hadn't spoke Lucy added "I doubt anyone else could find him."  
Longcoat chuckled again "Then I guess you haven't heard about Mike and Sandy yet."

Lucy quit her searching for a second and turned around "What's that supposed to mean?"  
"After their little humiliation at the bank, they were reportedly quite upset. At least, that's the impression those reporters who showed up just after you left had.

"In fact, from what little they heard them say, those two are probably more determined to catch him than you are. Reports show them almost literally tearing the whole city apart just to find him."

Lucy let out an audible groan after hearing this "Oh God!"  
"What's the fuss about?" Inquired Longcoat.

"I don't want to see Mike, this month he's been trying to seek me out both in school and in costume. What the fuck's his problem?"  
Longcoat was about to answer when a beep was heard out of his massive computer.

Lucy turned back to the machine, her search program having finished determining who the most likely candidate was…and she was surprised.  
"What the Hell?" she muttered "Is this for real? But then again…I didn't expect Katie or Carter to try this either."  
Longcoat looked upon the screen with more confusion than surprise "Who's this stooge? He looks like a fruit."  
Lucy didn't even blink, she just continued reading on and the more she read the more she realized she may have found her killer…

The Slums: 5:43

Mike had been searching the whole day and if anything could be said for Johnny, he was great at hiding.

After his humiliation earlier that day from Johnny's guns, Mike and Sandy were helpless to stop the massacre committed by said maniac.

Mike was a young boy but he knew without the slightest bit of doubt that he wouldn't forget that. Not just the feeling of helplessness but the sight of all those innocents dying.

While he and Sandy were out for a while, the armors came back online shortly after Johnny left. They both swore to find Johnny no matter how long it took.

Sandy was handling the upper half of town while he handled the lower half, but while he looked for a gun totting loony with a murder fetish other things were weighing on his mind.

Sandy still wanted him to speak with Lucy. Even though they fell out last year, Sandy felt he had to.

Mike admitted that he'd been quite angry at the time, and that Lucy really wasn't as bad as he'd thought. She was a bit clingy and violent but she really just needed help to get over it, he was long over his anger towards her.

But all that said, he still wondered if she'd forgive him. He might have calmed down and decided to forgive her but he had this nagging feeling that Lucy was still mad at him, she loved him and in her eyes he betrayed her.

As he thought to himself LEGACY's scan completed with some interesting news…

'Michael' the sentient computer said, indicating he'd found something 'I've finally found him.'

'Where's Johnny?' Asked the cat, glad to finally get this over with.

'His heartbeat seems to be…this isn't right.'

'Huh?'

'It's right below us.'

Before Mike could even think a bullet wizzed through the air and sliced through Mike's suit. If it had a gas engine it'd sputter from a cut located right at his jets, which would henceforth keep him from flying.

Mike fell out like downed doghouse that tried to kill the Red baron and smashed down into an abandoned building.

The building was rickedy and very old, filled with dust and filth. As Mike began to get up though he could see that he'd crashed into what must have once been someone's kitchen.

And the rifle butt of a homicidal maniac.

Mike's helmet protected him from too serious an injury (broken noses and all that) but a blow to the face, no matter how armored said face was could still lead one to recoil in surprise.

But our anti-hero had the misfortune of stepping right into a bear trap.  
"That hurts doesn't it?" Said the voice Michael recognized as Johnny. "You're trapped now, that setta chompers'll release an EMP if you struggle too much. So you sir, are completely at my mercy."  
Mike was in shock at his present situation and this turned to mortal fear when the maniac added "Which means ol' Johnny Silence can do whatever he wants to do to you."  
"Don't count on it, he might have a butt plug."  
The Silver Sentinel was stunned when he realized who was talking, Johnny must have been too. For both heads turned up to the hole in the ceiling to see both the Ice Queen and her recently seen sidekick, who some believed was called 'Snowflake' looking down at them.

Mike himself had never encountered Snowflake but when he saw her he couldn't help but think he'd seen her before…

Johnny turned away from Mike and began to address the superheroines "Nice of you to join me ladies! I thought I broke you before, so instead you bring a twerp to a gun-"

"Oh you're all about guns aren't you?" The lady cat snarled "But not the metal pieces you get off to, I mean your 'other gun.'

"In fact that's you're more fond of isn't it? You know, instead of girls? Of all the people to go insane and do any of the things you've done I'd expect you the least. But people surprise you all the time.  
"Don't they…Carson?"

Anime announcer voice: Next time on Beware the Ice Queen!: Johnny Silence vs. the Ice Queen! Also the drama increases when new elements come to light…


	25. The Ghost of you

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Carson (now revealed as Johnny Silence) was genuinely surprised Lucy had figured him out but soon thereafter he smiled and said "Congratulations Ice Queen, I didn't think you'd find out about how radioactive mascara-"

"Oh shut up!" Lucy groaned "You did not go crazy because of toxic makeup, you did not gain powers from poisonous beauty products, and one thing they most certainly didn't do is install a fucking voice box in your chest!"  
Johnny looked down at his chest, Lucy had him there "Well he had to remove the lisp somehow" admitted the crossdresser turned psychopath.

Lucy smirked "So somebody did make you. Who was it?"  
"That I do not know" Carson said "But it doesn't matter what he is…what matters is his plan."  
"And that is?" A somewhat scared Daisy asked, clutching her staff nervously.

"Killing you of course."  
Carson hurriedly began to draw only to find that this time Lucy's reactions outdid his in the sense that she actually leaped down and beat his drawing time with a kick to the hand.

Lucy had prepared for this battle by watching all the footage of people with superhuman reflexes she could find. So currently she was able to actually time his gun draws perfectly.

What she didn't count on was accidentally smashing through the wall.

Carson and Lucy tumbled into the next room, taking advantage of Lucy's momentary confusion he attempted to regain his footing and stomp her face in…unfortunately for him though Lucy chose to make like a true cat and used her claws on him.

The extensions of bone bit clean into Carson's flesh, it hurt like Hell and he couldn't get out without tearing up his own flesh. Shocked by how easily she got him he lost it and sank his claws into her.

The two were fighting like a pair of tomcats over a lady cat, Lucy being determined to stop him and Carson being determined to kill her.

As the literal catfight ensued their clothes were getting ripped up and Lucy knew that if this continued her outfit would be destroyed and her identity exposed.

Noticing an opening, she withdrew her claws and delivered a hard sucker punch to his gut.

Carson tumbled off and quickly twisted through the air, preparing to face his opponent.

Lucy herself got to her feet just as quick and barely managed to fend off a pain fueled charge from him.

She'd caught him and was barely managing to restrain his claws from landing directly in her throat.

Struggling against the force of Carson's hand Lucy threw her fist right into the supercriminal's mask, smashing about half of it and heavily cracking it.

This was the breaking point for him, the Ice Queen was a bit disturbed at how Carson suddenly went completely berserk and slashed her face.

All that was hurt was roughly half her mask, but Lucy could tell this had gone on long enough.

Within her head was a pool of rage she'd had since birth, while she was still a violent girl her true fury had been suppressed quite a bit…until now.

Roaring with fury she punched Carson hard enough to send him flying across the room (which was a relatively small living room that had no more furniture left after its previous residents had chosen to vacate.)  
Rushing over in a rage induced fury, Lucy pounced upon him and began to beat him in an incredible fury.  
"You sick! Twisted! Worthless! Motherfucking piece of shit! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED BECAUSE OF YOU?! HOW MANY CHILDREN ARE ORPHANED?! HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE SCARED AND SHOCKED BY WHAT YOU DID?! EVEN IF HEAVEN ITSELF FORGIVES YOU…"  
Carson's already battered and beaten body looked like shit, Carter's beatdown was known by all as particularly brutal but Carson got it even worse, and just as he went unconscious the Ice Queen was about to continue when she heard a voice that chilled her to the bone.

"Lucy?"  
Lucy looked up from her work and saw Mike was looking right at her. Daisy was looking right at her too, and while both were surprised it was Mike who looked genuinely hurt.

Mike was shocked, of all the people he thought was the Ice Queen, Lucy, his friend until the previous year wasn't one of them. True they both were violent and the Ice Queen showed some signs of mental instability but he still never thought this.

What happened, what did he do that drove her to become this?  
He looked down towards Snowflake and then realized something else.  
"Daisy?"  
Daisy leapt back in surprise and scorn, the latter of which surprised Mike as she seemed genuinely mad at him. Even though she helped him get out of the bear trap.  
"Get back!"  
"But what's-"

Daisy drew her staff again and glared straight towards him "Haven't you done enough to her?!"  
The Silver Sentinel wondered what she meant by that, while he was wondering a realization struck him and his helmet slid down.  
"I-I-Is this about l-last year?" He shiveringly said.

Daisy's mood didn't change "Yes. Lucy needed help Mike, she was actually trying not to hurt you…"  
"Look, I was only doing what Sandy suggested. I just misin-"

"SHE TRIED TO KILL HERSELF YOU ASSHOLE!" Daisy yowled. Mike was taken aback by this.

"What?" He lowly shivered "Sh-sh-sh-she tried-"

"Yes she did" Daisy "And it was your entire fault. YOUR FAULT! If she hadn't been stopped you'd have a lot worse than just breaking her heart to pay for.  
"I became her partner because I wanted to help her after she saved my life. And because she needs help, I know I wasn't built for this kind of life but somebody needed to do something. That's what friends do Mike, I used to love you…and all I see now is just a bastard who nearly killed a girl who needed love more than all of us."  
Mike was stunned, he knew he'd hurt Lucy but never before did he know just how she took it. He felt like throwing up but had to continue.  
"But Daisy. I-"

The clicking of a gun being cocked filled the air and attracted both the attention of Daisy and Mike. Slowly turning their heads both of them were shocked to see Lucy aiming a gun at him with tears in her eyes.  
"Leave" she said, in a voice so low she could barely be heard.

"But Lucy-" Mike began.

"Leave!" Lucy snapped "The bullet in this is jacketed with a vibranium and adamantium alloy. Even with your helmet on this will still crack your head quicker than light itself. Leave! Now!"  
Mike tried to speak again but when he looked into Lucy's eyes he could see not the friend he'd hurt but rather a girl who really wanted the boy who tormented her gone so much she'd kill him.

This made him feel even worse. Knowing he could do little else he recalled his helmet and flew off through the roof.  
As he flew into the night, Mike was shocked, saddened and disturbed. Just what had happened? Why did Lucy become the Ice Queen? And how…how could he have caused all this?

Mike knew then and there that just one act of anger caused pain for both of them, he couldn't take it back and Lucy was more hurt than he could have imagined.

As he flew off, he soon got out of range…not hearing the sobs of Lucy as she cried back in the building, with Daisy comforting her.

"It's okay Lucy" Daisy assured her, hugging her gentlely "I'm here. I'll always be here for you…"

From an unseen hiding place, Augustus scowled "Well. At least he worked better than the others. I just need to find a way to get him and the others out of Ravenwood.  
"And the Ice Queen shall get melted…"


	26. Let it all Come Down

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Ravenwood Asylum: 3:43 AM

Ravenwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane wasn't used to superhuman inmates before six months ago.

When Alejandro Rojas was sentenced, one of their large cells was modified to fit him and keep him held with minimum body movement allowed.

A month later when a plant controlling cheerleader named Katie was imprisoned for a murder spree and attacking a party, a similar cell was made for her.

Two months ago, serial killer Carter "Cheshire Cat" Noface was tossed in a simple cell with heat detecting scanners to make sure he didn't escape.

And in November, one month ago they had gained Carson "Johnny Silence" Jones. His cell was as fortified as Alejandro's but he was stuck in a straitjacket that was in turn chained to a wall. With even less movement than Alejandro had.

Founded in 1889, this asylum never had any breakout save one incident in the fifties when serial killer Jack "Wildcat" Damme broke out in the most audacious way possible.

But when little trouble is to be had, things can get a bit soft.

Just ask the security guards, or the couple that were still alive after Augustus and his goons massacred the staff.

A cat that barely survived a shotgun blast to his gut could feel the great blackness of death closing in on him, he tried to draw his gun on the supercriminal advancing towards him.

Augustus was quicker however, and a swordstick to the head ended the guard's life.

The Cryptic felt great, he'd planned this out three separate times and he didn't expect his newest plan to work this smoothly. The security cameras were scrambled and didn't show so much as a hair of him.

The same went for Alejandro's gang. Who'd helped in the aforementioned massacre.  
"Ah…I love it when a plan comes together" Augustus chuckled as he watched his thugs beat the other guard to death.

Turning towards the cell of his old boss he pulled out a keycard he'd built after hacking the mainframe. As far as anyone was concerned this card was a master key for the whole asylum.

In the hands of a janitor it could clean the whole place but in the hands of a professional criminal this could be a weapon of mass destruction.

Case in point, Augustus slid his card through Alejandro's lock, opening the door.

As the door opened, Alejandro seemed to be a little surprised.  
"You took your time, little gringo."  
Augustus' smirked towards him "What can I say? I just can't create competent villains."

"True. Now how about letting me outta this?"  
Augustus drew his swordstick and began to saw off some of the restraints "Don't worry my friend. I wasn't just coming to kill, I need both you and my creations for the endgame…

Lucy's House: 3:29 PM

Lucy was unbelievably pissed at the headlines 'MASS BREAKOUT AT RAVENWOOD ASYLUM!'

Everybody in town was scared and terrified about it, everyone wanted to know who'd be next and whether or not the next victim of any of these monstrously insane criminals was them.

But the police, Lucy herself, Daisy, and as much as she hated to admit it, Mike were all aware of one thing.

They hadn't killed anyone yet, in fact nobody had even seen them.

Despite a city wide dragnet by police and superheroes, not even one of them was found.

But as Lucy sat on her bed, rereading the article for the third time it wasn't the lost villains that unnerved her.

For the whole month, every gang in town was acting weirdly. As if something big was going to happen.

Ever since Mike had found out who she was Lucy'd been cutting out pretty all her friends save Daisy and Paulo. The reason being so she could stay even further away from Mike.

She'd done good in avoiding Mike and she was concerned he'd act upon that in some way. Probably accuse her of being a psycho or something.

Lucy was however concerned about the villains, she'd never fought multiple ones before so she began to wonder on how to go about this.

Daisy was busy at cheerleading practice so Lucy chose to set out on her own for this job.

But first…

Longcoat's lair: 30 minutes later

"Villain teamup? Have they announced a formal challenge'r something?"  
Longcoat was currently trying to balance an ax on the tip of his nose as he spoke, Lucy was well used to his shenanigans by now and continued.

"If those lunatics haven't been found yet, they must be working together. I just didn't think Alejandro would-"

"Alejandro? The rapecat? What would honestly make you think he's the one behind all this?"  
Lucy sighed "Out of all of them, he's the smartest and the one most likely to declare himself leader."  
"No he doesn't, I believe there was another rogue of yours who was more likely. I believe he called himself the Cryptic."  
"The Cryptic's dead."  
"Maybe not, his body was never found, and one of the lessons I taught you was…"

"…_if the body isn't found, he probably isn't dead_. I know Longcoat, but wouldn't he have shown up by now if he wasn't?"

"No Lucy. If he was as smart as he struck me, he'd have hid and planned revenge, perhaps you think he's dead because that's what you want."  
Lucy was a bit irritated "Are you going to help me or play Freud?"  
"Chill kitty, I'll give you advice. In fact I'll even help you catch them…"

Downtown: 9:34 PM

Lucy leapt between a pair of rooftops nobody else would even think of leaping over.

She, Longcoat and Daisy (who she decided to let in on this after all) chose to make a team effort in finding the villains. She took half of downtown, Longcoat took the other half, and Daisy took uptown.

Lucy had a feeling that if Alejandro was behind this he'd probably be around his old hangout.

And there she was, she stood upon the roof of the bar she first saw him all that long ago. She was determined to find her would be rapist and punish him for escape.

The Ice Queen looked around and seeing that nobody actually was on the streets so leapt down.

The quietness disturbed her, like a scripted event in some videogame was about to happen.

As she stood right in the middle of the road she realized how right the comparison was when a massive vine burst out of the ground.

Lucy barely managed to leap out of the way, then noticing a more disturbing sight in the alleyway nearby.

"Long time, eh chica?" Growled Alejandro as his hideous, misshapen form lurked out of the shadows.

As Lucy began to stand up, an unseen force kicked her in the ribs and knocked her over.

"You broke my heart!" Carter yelled "WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!"  
"She has a knack for that" said a new voice; one Lucy didn't expect to hear again.

"No" she lowly muttered "You-you're supposed to be dead."  
Augustus was there, with Carson and Katie flanking him. They were all in full gear and he was smirking evilly towards her.  
"Hello. Little moth…"


	27. Introduce a Little Anarchy

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Lucy was shocked to her core, Augustus was standing right in front of her. No longer just an unpleasant memory, but a visible threat with her most feared enemies at his command.

As shocked as she was Lucy was still able to ask that all important question.  
"H-how-"

Augustus realized where her line of inquiry was heading and explained "I can swim, you dizzy broad. The fall may have hurt a bit" he wriggled his fingers "But as you can see, I'm perfectly alright."  
"Then what's this?" She snarled "A revenge play?"  
"Not really. Revenge is a bit small for my liking; I simply wanted to prove we weren't very different.

"And you haven't disappointed me; don't think I haven't noticed the increasingly worse brutality of your methods."  
Lucy's fur grew even whiter when the shock of this revelation dawned on her.

Not waiting for a reply Augustus continued "My sights have grown higher in the past few months you know. I'm beginning to wonder why simply petty thievery was a good idea."  
"And creating monsters factors into this how?"

There was a chuckle from the mastermind as the aforementioned monsters stared at their leader with awe.  
"You see Lucy in addition to being the smartest criminal you'll ever meet I'm also a hacker, and some time ago I hacked a government server and discovered a hidden cache of defective super serums used in the Cold War for creating super soldiers.

"Figuring out how to rework some was easy, childishly simple. Getting people too stupid to question orders but able to perform incredible atrocities was a different matter.

"After much consideration I figured I'd get best results from the school. Specifically from people you knew, like your stalker Carter who I made homicidally determined to please you, Katie, the alpha bitch who envied anyone with beauty, and Carson the crossdresser who once wanted the same man you desired."  
Augustus pulled a small vial out of his hat, inside it lay a green mist that Lucy could just smell evil on.

"This gas is one I devised myself, I got the idea from the crazy clown of Gotham City. Except instead of causing death with a smile, it simply drives people insane. It's so precise it even allows me to program just how it manifests, sometimes it's temporary but in the case of my new buddies here…"  
The cat began to laugh evilly and was slowly joined by the rest of his murderous minions.  
"I-I will stop you" Lucy snarled, though this promise was mostly to herself.

"No you, like, won't" Katie purred in a mocking voice.

"You underestimate the magnitude of what is to come" Carson sneered.

"You'll pay for breaking my heart!" Carter roared.  
"And you can't stop us, chica" Alejandro snarled as he stomped over towards Lucy.

"Unless of course, you can fight the madness within you!" Augustus cackled.

Lucy realized what Augustus was about to do pretty quickly and attempted to get to her feet, only for vines to wrap around her arms and pin her down. To make matters worse, Alejandro pressed his massive foot down on her. Rendering her completely immobile.

As she struggled helplessly, Lucy could do nothing but look as Augustus kneeled down and placed his crazy gas vial right under her nose.

Leaning over to her ear he whispered "Sweet dreams."

The vial was broken.

Lucy's eyes widened in horror as the vapors filled her nostrils, she couldn't move, she couldn't think of nothing but fear and her worst enemies stood around her hurling insults.

She'd lost.

It took about a minute for the gas to work, Augustus decided they were done.

"Alright, let your foot off. She shouldn't be a problem for a few hours at least."  
"Could I rape her?" Alejandro growled as both his foot and Katie's vines left her.  
"Alejandro, we've been over this before. I don't want her harmed any further, that will ruin the game before it begins."  
Carson cleared his throat "Mister Roman, I think we should get out of here. You yourself said we were on a schedule."  
"Yeah, and I need to get my hair done" Katie whined.

Augustus looked down at the Ice Queen "True, we are indeed on borrowed time. I've set up the game anyways, so we may as well begin."  
Augustus began to walk off into the night, and towards a bus his minions had taken earlier that day.

Alone and undisturbed, Lucy lay on the ground for a good half hour. Twitching and frightened.

For the crazy gas she inhaled was intended to put her in a fear based coma, and this was just to kick off Augustus' crazy scheme.

But after her half an hour two pairs of feet were walking towards her.

Longcoat and Daisy looked down at their friend with shock and horror.  
"Ah Hell" muttered their mentor "This can't be good."  
Little did he realize how right he was.

(A bit of warning, it may be a while until the next chapter is made. I decided to put some alterations to it at the last minute...but it'll be worth it, trust me.)


	28. Tainted Love

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat. One more thing, I know its been a while since I last updated this Fic so I hope there won't be any hard feelings…I spent a lot of time on this, I hope you enjoy it.)

Lucy's House: 9:12 AM

Lucy was lost in her own fear for hours, she lay upon her bed in costume and comatose.

Longcoat and Daisy were standing over her, Clover was there too, licking her hand.

"She hasn't woken up" Daisy sorrowfully said.

Longcoat was grim for once "No. No she hasn't.  
"But she must, because if she doesn't this whole city is dead…"

9 HOURS AGO

_Longcoat burst into Lucy's house with his apprentice slung over his arm. While her family was out that night the human would have brought her there anyways._

_Daisy closely followed him, worried immensely for her friend._

_Clover was there to stand guard over the basement door and ran right to them after smelling something bad was going on.  
Placing his twitching sidekick on the table, the super-vigilante began to study her._

"_Wh-what's wrong with her?" Daisy nervously asked, finally speaking up after discovering Lucy's body._

_Longcoat sighed "Lucy seems to have inhaled some kind of toxin. From the looks of it, I believe it's something similar to or is a fear toxin. Which was originally pioneered by Dr. Johnathan "Scarecrow" Crane, and since he never even met Lucy I doubt he did this.  
"As far as I can tell this thing seems to be putting her in some kind of…fear based coma."  
Daisy began to cry as her friend lay on the table "Don't worry though" Longcoat reassured her "This doesn't look permanent, I might be able to rig up an antidote. As far as I can tell this looks like she only had a minor exposure to whatever poison she ingested. In fact it almost seems like this was intended to simply put her out of the way for a short while."  
Something occurred to him "Turn the TV on."  
Daisy was a bit confused at this "What?"  
"Turn it on quick, if they did this and purposely kept her alive. They'll have something that'll definitely make the news. Turn the TV to the newschannels."  
"Oh" Daisy said, finally realizing what he meant. Getting up she turned on the TV but noticed something weird.  
"Longcoat…there aren't any channels. Just this...weird symbol."_

_Longcoat looked up from his protégé and saw that where any kind of television program should have been, there was what seemed to be a large question mark crossed with a biohazard symbol and a skull and crossbones.  
"This can't be good."  
As if in answer to his question, the screen changed to show a smirking Augustus, wearing both his top hat and monocle._

"_Oh God!" Daisy yelled out in horror "But-but he's-"_

"_I told Lucy she shouldn't have assumed he was dead."  
"Good evening, you wretched denizens of Roseville. For those who are not familiar with me, permit me to introduce myself, my name is Augustus Roman but you knew me better as the Cryptic.  
"I have hijacked every television in this city to enlighten you all to the important fact you all must know."  
He adjusted his monocle before continuing "You are all dead._

"_For the past few months I have been creating superpowered criminals and releasing them into the streets, the purpose of this was to create bodyguards for my true plan.  
"High up in the city lies a machine that will generate a complete orb around the city, you cannot break it, nor can you teleport through it."  
The camera panned out to reveal that Alejandro, Katie, Carter and Carson were right behind him and they looked disturbingly pleased at this next rant._

"_You cannot escape nor hope on any rescue, for as the dome rises now everyone here will play by my rules."  
Exchanging a worried look between each other, Longcoat and Daisy rushed outside and watched in horror as an orangish forceshield began to cover the skies._

_Hearing something else from Augustus as he bragged on the television, the two ran back in._

" –_ith the gangs of this city following me now. Or at least agreeing to take advantage of this, anarchy shall be the rule of these streets._

"_Now, this is not a sadistic plot. Well not entirely anyways, for there is a way to save yourselves. Which is to stay out of it."  
Augustus pulled out a picture he'd taken of the Ice Queen swinging through the air "For this is the person I intended this for. I have chosen her to play my little game of death and she's off to a bad start.  
"She won't be able to really do anything for awhile though, not after what I gave her so my boys'll be able to enjoy themselves for a bit._

"_Anyways, I'm bored now. Good luck trying to survive, because you'll need it...no seriously you will."  
_

Back to present time

Longcoat's fist clenched tightly after remembering what he saw earlier. Augustus would pay for this, with his furry tail getting lit on fire by Hell itself.

Daisy'd been working hard all night, saving who she could when she could. Claiming the house as a base of operations there were several strangers milling about downstairs, despite this however Lucy's brother Jordan (who Longcoat let in on about this, largely so he could use him as a guard), Lily, Yashy, Blur, and David (David was unaware that Lucy was the Ice Queen still seemed pretty sad over her current state.)  
Longcoat hadn't left her side for a second, he'd been through Hell like this before and he knew that as powerful as he was, only she could end this.

It was her fight…and she wouldn't wake up.

As it turned out the fear venom wasn't intended to be permanent, but the only real way for it to end was for Lucy herself to come out.

And it had been hours, the streets were (as Augustus had promised) ruled by anarchy and chaos. Supercriminals were going on violent rampages and the police were useless against them, already being busy dealing with the gangs.

Even the Silver Sentinel and Golden Guardian failed, somehow Augustus had beaten and captured them. The Bronze Titan armor was also smashed up when Commissioner Duncan attempted (and failed) to beat Alejandro and instead got captured.

Augustus set up shop in the Swan Hotel, at the penthouse where Longcoat believed the force field generator was hidden too.

Daisy herself had attacked Katie while she was trying to flay some of her fellow cheerleaders alive and barely survived the fight (though she did save her schoolmates.)  
As Longcoat stood brooding over his beaten sidekick with Daisy and Clover watching her too. Jordan walked in and stared intently as his sister.  
"I'm gonna kill that bastard" he growled "She didn't deserve this."  
"I won't argue that" Longcoat added "But no one ever knows what someone deserves, still though you're right. Lucy's lead a hard life."  
"Then she shouldn't have been involved in this at all" he growled again "Why the Hell did you use my sister for this?"  
Longcoat stood his ground, Lucy's brother was pretty angry when he learned Lucy'd been injured but he got even angrier when he realized Longcoat had gotten her in this business.

"I saved her life and made her strong remember? This whole thing's a kind of therapy. It helped me with my insecurities and I still got trouble with them."

Longcoat looked glumly towards her as Lucy's brother muttered "But all those criminals came out because of her, can you justify that?"  
"Augustus was already on his way to becoming this, even without Lucy he would've been the same."  
Before Lucy's brother began to argue Longcoat continued "This whole thing isn't just my fault. Lucy and her friends are in some kind of…emotional standoff. All of them cause trouble for each other and in a way they're all responsible for their own problems.  
"The drama probably took a wrong turn when Mike broke her heart, but I think this all really started when Daisy broke Augustus' heart long before this."  
Daisy's fur paled and she looked up towards Longcoat as he continued "And that's the point, Augustus seems to target Lucy because she's like him. Both of them had their hearts broken and took radical ways in dealing with this."  
Longcoat took off his mask at last, while his appearance was so alien they could all see the look of worry on his face, the sweat in his hair and how he was upset at all this.

"It's been several hours before all this Hell started, we're out of time, and Lucy's still out of it. I don't know if you realize it but only Lucy can truly put a stop to this."  
He pulled something out from behind his back, Daisy and Jordan were a bit perplexed by this.

What he'd pulled out was a small black briefcase "This is what's commonly known as an Inception machine, it allows people to enter minds and manipulate dreams. This may be the only way to get Lucy out of it forcibly.  
"I'll only do this as a last resort in case what I'm about to do doesn't work."

Longcoat walked right over to Lucy's head and kneeled down to her ear and began to whisper something…

Lucy's room, time…who knows

Lucy's eyes slowly rose open as she woke up from her sleep…which confused her immensely since she last remembered getting bushwhacked by a group of supercriminals she'd fought before.

Something was off. She couldn't hear anything, not even the wind itself.

Quietly getting out of bed, Lucy looked around the room…something was definitely wrong, she couldn't even see her pets (and they usually slept nearby her.)  
"Hello?" She spoke hoping for an answer, but received none. "Hello?" she asked again in a slightly louder voice.

Lucy's heart skipped a beat when she heard the front door open; walking to her door she went towards the sound in hopes of seeing somebody.  
As she moved forward she felt a sense of unease, something was seriously not right here. Even when there was a distinct lack of feline and avian presence that she should have heard, not to mention that their walls and carpet were too clean to be real.

As she drew closer, Lucy saw somebody sitting in a chair with his back to her…somebody who looked familiar.

"Mike?" She lowly asked, wondering what was going on here.

Mike slowly got up, and just stood for a few seconds but then slowly turned around in a garish manner. Lucy took one look at him and was instantly horrified.

His eyes…were gone, with blood oozing right out of his skull, his fur withered and old, and maggots littered in his skin.  
Lucy was frozen with fear, she'd seen some horrifying things…but this was on a whole new level, just plain wrong.

'Mike' looked at her like a man might look at an unpleasant piece of gun stuck to his shoe "You…bitch" he spat "I hate you, I hate you! Why the fuck were you even born!" the demonic cat roared.

Lucy let out a blood curdling scream as the nightmare before her hurled more verbal abuse.

Lucy was so frightened of the demonic Mike that she did something she'd never done for a long time when danger showed up.

She ran, she ran straight towards the exit out of pure, primal terror at what she'd seen.

The backdoor was near, perfectly in sight and just within Lucy's grasp. But just as it seemed her escape from the demonic Mike was in sight, a new problem faced her.

For standing in her way, all sly and sleazy, was a monstrous giant that looked exactly like Augustus.

Sneering over her, the wretch being hissed "Can't you accept the Truth? You are so worthless!"  
Lucy tensed up and prepared for the fight she thought would start, but as large as Augustus was he proved he wasn't slow by swiftly grabbing her up in his massive hand.

The white furred female struggled against the strength of Augustus' gloved hand in vain, terror building in her heart as the hand slowly rose to his mouth.

Just as it seemed she was about to slip out, the hand tossed her inside his gargantuan maw.  
Yet as she was flung into the mouth Lucy could feel no teeth, nor the sensation of a throat compressing around her…just the feeling of falling in a black abyss.

Time seemed to go on forever as she tumbled through darkness, Lucy could have fallen forever…but alas, Augustus' torments weren't so merciful.  
Lucy hit what looked like just more darkness but felt more like solid ground, and no sooner did she get on her feet when a spotlight shined on her.

Lucy couldn't see past the hovering spotlight, but could clearly hear something running in the darkness.

Without warning however, something jumped on her back and threw her to the ground. Being as strong as she was, Lucy easily shook her weight off…but saw something shocking when she did.

On the floor laid a maddened looking Daisy, her flesh was covered in tumor and she had a large chunk of flesh gone from her head.

"You lousy bitch!" Howled the demonic rendition of her friend "Are you ever anything other than a whining little skank?!"  
Lucy backed away in fright and bumped into someone else.

She span around and stood face to face with a zombified Paulo that hissed through a half rotted mouth "You ugly whore, why did I ever love you?"

Lucy stepped backwards and tripped over the fallen Daisy, her mind whirled at the speed of a tornado unsure of whether or not she was in a dream.

A fist flew into her head from an unseen enemy, as she fell over Lucy saw Abbey with a horrifically scarred face.

"Bully" snarled the cat, spit flying out through the hideous mug "That's all you are Lucy, and by God I'll make you pay for it."  
Lucy'd had enough of this, despite the grim oblivion she was living in at this horrid hour she punched Abbey with enough force to knock out a couple teeth.

Turning speedily, Lucy attempted to run off…only to run into a chilling sight that shocked her even more than the terrifying visions she'd already encountered.  
Towering over her stood Longcoat himself, his comical and normally maniac self was replaced by a dark, foreboding sense of pure menace.

Lucy was speechless, but Longcoat didn't wait for any kind of response at all, he just leaping forward he just punched her in the jaw right away.  
"I tried to hide my disappointment and put a smiling face on as long as I could" her mentor snarled with rage cold enough to freeze fire "But I've lost my patience" he continued "I can't keep hoping for you to snap out of your madness in vain! You have failed me, Lucy. I wanted a heroine but instead I got a monster!"

Lucy's fear was crippling, holding her in place as Longcoat pulled off his mask, revealing a frightening black blob of Hellish shadows.

"Mike was right" he snarled "You really are a parasite."  
Lucy tried to quickly rise, but as swift as her reflexes were, she couldn't stop Longcoat from grabbing her.

Her demonic mentor's grip was tight enough to replace handcuffs, and Lucy could not seem to find a way out. Not as the other demonic personas surrounded her.  
"See for yourself" the nightmare growled, flinging her out into the darkness.

Lucy tumbled down through space again, terrified of the fall and fearful of the crash she could have sworn would come.

Lucy felt a different sensation instead, feeling like she was just falling without stopping. And as she fell, pictures slowly began to form.

She could see snow, not wet and sticky snow, but soft snow that most children dream of sledding in.  
Snow was lightly falling from the air, Lucy remembered something else though, this weather seemed very familiar to her.

As she looked forward she saw someone very familiar to her, a figure responsible for a lot of grief, but also some good times.  
She saw Mike as a child, rolling up a large snowball to make it even bigger than it was before.  
What surprised Lucy though, was seeing herself in this image. She was not the woman she'd grown into but instead she was a young child.

Lucy remembered this; long ago, back when she and Mike were both friends, they often loved to play in the snow.

Lucy stared on at this entranced, reminded of her distant youth and before she turned into the (figurative) Ice Queen she still was now.

She saw Mike struggling with the snowball he'd made, in hindsight, he shouldn't have made it twice his size.

Mike's attempts to push it up annoyed younger Lucy, rolling her eyes like the snarky cat she is now, she walked right up to her friend, pushed him away, and helped him by rolling it with the force of a car smashing into a deer.

Mike watched as she began rolling another lump of snow into something vaguely resembling a ball. Within minutes, the white haired cat constructed a snowman's body.

She turned to her friend and asked him to head with her as they looked for a hat or some sticks they could use to decorate their snowman.  
Lucy remembered what would happen, the two would have engaged in a wacky search for sticks, coal and a hat (which they got from somebody who preferred to not part with it.)  
She always remembered this as a treasured memory, one of the best days she'd had with Mike before that fatal December.

But this was different, Lucy realized that there was something she didn't remember of this important memory.

The children were getting scared, as if scared of some horrifying monster that wanted to gobble them up.

Whether or not feline fricassee was on the menu, there was indeed a monster watching them.

Lucy gazed on in shock and horror as a shadowy being stalked the children, with some malicious intent on its mind.  
As the pair of kittens trudged along in the snow with the intentions of finding a hat to place upon the wintery effigy's head, the shadow of the unknown monster slowly followed them.

Gradually, the sky itself grew darker and darker. As if to reflect a situation that went from a nice memory to a horror story in the making.

The children were gradually starting to get scared, fear acting like some kind of deadly toxin that made them more and more paralyzed as they moved along (which it is.)  
And when the tension grew too much, the monster struck. But Lucy couldn't believe her eyes.

The monster that was stalking these innocents, and tampering with her own memories…was the Ice Queen.

Perched upon a snow covered oak tree, Lucy could see what she could only describe as an evil clone of herself, in a black version of her Ice Queen outfit.

Lucy couldn't speak, but if she could, this proud beauty would have broken and begged this monster to leave them alone.  
Lucy's mouth began to try and form out a desperate plea for mercy when a familiar voice spoke.  
"Hey kiddo, it's me, Alex."  
Longcoat was speaking to her, she knew it. Yet he was nowhere to be seen, was this a hallucination or-

No. No this wasn't a trick of her half deranged mind. This actually was her mentor, somehow his voice was plunging through her mind.

She was looking on at her memory as the demonic Ice Queen attacked the children relentlessly. Beating them with cruel violence and total dark hearted evil.

Longcoat's voice rang through the darkness again. "I can't understand what you're going on in your head. But listen to me.

"Things are bad. Augustus has the entire town at his mercy, people are dying all over the place, your enemies are running rampant and most your friends and family are in mortal danger."  
Lucy's fear started to leak away, the sight of the demon Ice Queen stopped bothering her.

"You have to stop him, me, Daisy and even Clover can handle the thugs but we can't handle them and the supervillains at the same time. This isn't my battle, it's yours." Her mentor continued.

"If you're scared, if you're nervous, just remember…I'm scared too. I'm scared for your sake, but I need you up. The city is in danger, innocents are dying, Augustus is laughing at their misery and you are the only person who can stop him."

Lucy's blood began to boil but not in anger, the coat clad crusader had sent the message of hot blooded determination on an arrow straight to her heart.

Her teeth began to grit up, even as the representations of her fears showed up to further mutilate her poor memory.

"You may think you're a violent fiend at times, but you aren't, while overly brutal I know you have a good heart. Your friends are worried for you and your brother is too. Rise up Lucy, rise up and stop all this Hell.

"Now whatever's going on in there is nothing, you can leave whenever you want. All you need is to choose to leave but please do it soon, the city needs you, and so do I."

And then Longcoat's voice left, but Lucy could feel whatever force holding her starting to weaken and bend. And within seconds, it broke.

The Ice Queen lunged right into the memory and roared like a fierce lioness on the hunt, throwing a rage fueled punch to "deformed Mike's" face.

The Mike broke into a thousand tiny piece and the other figments of her mind took notice. Getting up from the ground, they rushed at Lucy with a collective look of murder.

But the white furred wondercat wasn't taking any shit from them, whipping out an uzi she quickly gunned them all down. Her newfound strength and courage granting her the power to take down her primal fears for good.  
The Demon Ice Queen managed to avoid the bullets and charged straight at Lucy.

"No" Lucy growled, staring her darkened foe down "You can't hurt me now, not ever again. Because I am no longer…  
"AFRAID!" She roared, the figment was blown into shards by the mere force of her voice.

At the death of the Demon, everything went black and slowly a light began to appear above Lucy.

Realizing she was free to go, Lucy concentrated on her body…and began to rise towards the light.

Lucy's room: Present time.  
Longcoat stood back up and put his mask back on. "Alright, let's leave the room. She'll need a bit of time to herself now."

Slowly Longcoat, Daisy, Jordan and even Clover left the room, leaving the comatose kitty the only person in the room.

As the procession walked away from the room they saw David and the pets (Yashy, Blur, and Lily agreed to keep Lucy's identity a secret from the others) waiting in the hall. When David noticed they were out he looked towards them with a look of worry "Is the Ice Queen gonna be alright?"  
David was one of the Ice Queen's largest fans, partially because of her attractiveness and largely because of how she could kick ass.

Longcoat closed the door before turning to him "She hasn't awaken yet but yes, she's alright."  
The dog's head hung low as he lay down in his depressed state.  
"Don't worry dude, whatever's happening. We're going to stop it, and I assure you. The Ice-"

Longcoat stopped, for at that moment his very sensitive hearing picked something up.

Someone in Lucy's room stood up.  
Like a flash of light he sprang to the door and opened it up, seeing that to his relief…Lucy stood tall, with her mask being pulled over her face.  
"Longcoat..." she began "What's going on? Where's Augustus? And how far am I going to have to go in order to smash his face?"

Longcoat grew a smirk under his mask; the night was pretty dark and dreary.

But now the dawn had come.

(As this chapter closes out, I'd like to credit my very good friend and beta reader Italian Schizoid Boy for giving me the idea and suggestions for the nightmare sequence, and also for his help with this tale in general.)


	29. God Save us, every one

(I don't own Bittersweet Candy Bowl or the story that inspired this storyline, the Silver Sentinel also belongs to Blade100, and that character is just an alternate version of Mike, but unlike the version Blade100 uses, the events of December happened on this Earth. I don't own anyone except Longcoat.)

Downtown- 9:34 AM

It was morning, and in Paulo's mind this was probably the last sunrise he'd ever see.

When Augustus announced his psychotic desire he'd gone out on the streets to make sure his friends were okay, and while he did avoid the psychotic street gangs for the most part he'd finally ran out of luck.

He was trapped in a large herd of people, with a large number of gangbangers around, taunting them as their leader (a black cat with a colorful headband) gave some kind of speech about how 'Their deaths shall be their entertainment' or something along those lines.

He knew exactly what was about to happen, these maniacs would kill him and everyone here.

At least, that's what he thought until the sound of a motorcycle began to rise over the sound of the violent thugs.

Looking up, Paulo watched as their would-be killers looked away from them and towards something that filled them with drove in, she seemed less like a lady cat and more like some dark force of vengeance,  
The thugs tried to react to this with shooting their unseen terror, but before they got the chance, the Ice Queen burst out and apparently bashed the leader's face with a bat as she passed. Paulo had never seen her before, but he wasn't disappointed. As a dark rider bound for one destination with the goal of wreaking out justice on Augustus.

To his surprise though, she didn't stop. People in the crowd struggled to get out of the way, and she just drove past.

Paulo's awe wore off with horror when he realized she'd left them and the thugs were about to have their way…until he heard more motors and saw two more riders.

One of them appeared to be the Ice Queen's sidekick Snowflake but the other one appeared to be male and wore an outfit similar to the Ice Queen's, the male also had some bizarre creature sitting behind him.

As the thugs scrambled to meet them, Snowflake leapt right off her motorcycle, causing it to swerve right into several gangbangers, knocking them over.

The male did the same kind of thing, only he leapt straight up in the air and grabbed the creature as he did so.

"Sic him boy!" He yelled out, hurling his beast like a baseball towards the leader as he stood up.

The creature latched onto the man's face like a Xenomorph facehugger and began attacking him, clawing and biting his face off.

Some members of the crowd, inspired by this great display of badassery, began to attack their captors though most of them just ran.

Paulo looked on in amazement as both superheroes proceeded to beat up the thugs, which despite the looks of things seemed hilarious one sided (and in the favor of the masked heroes.)

He had something of a grin now, perhaps his luck hadn't ran out just yet.

This grin dimmed however as he noticed a very large swarm of gangsters began storming out from all the other streets, from the looks of things about 50 from each street.

The girl noticed and looked worried, the man however…

"Showtime Bitches!" Yelled the man, proceeding to pull out a large machine gun from behind his back.

Paulo thought this was it, but as surprising as it sounds this was not the most dangerous fight in town.

Swan Hotel- 9:45 AM

Augustus had already received a call from his men, the Ice Queen was out on the streets trashing his men.

Most crooks would be in shock and fear at this.

Augustus wasn't though, he was in glee at how the Ice Queen had chosen to join the game, and she didn't disappoint.

He was looking at security footage of the lobby, the Ice Queen's motorcycle had just burst in. The glass windows shattered and she knocked over a goon standing too close to them.

There were several men in the lobby and all of them were useless against her.

As she jumped off the bike, she lunged right towards the first man she found and punched him hard enough to send about half his teeth out.

Augustus knew he'd pose no trouble, nor the others as she beat the holy Hell out of them.

He was especially fond of how at one time, she knocked someone down put the man's legs between hers and smashed them together.

That guy would be lucky to receive anything less than a limp.

He knew though that she couldn't use the elevators after how his men preformed some modifications to the roofs so her only option would be the stairs, which were heavily guarded.  
This defense would crumble at her but he knew this already.

Looking up from it and back at the other supervillains (who were in the room with him for an hour or so) he said two words that made clear she was there.  
"Prepare yourselves."

Downtown- The same time.

Longcoat was enjoying himself amongst the chaos.

While Daisy, Clover, and the various bystanders who'd had enough of this chaos were struggling against the zerg rush of thugs but he'd already broken about 43 spirits.

Currently he was performing an impromptu tap dancing routine atop the face of an iguana that thought he could beat him.

"HAHAHA! Now this is the life!" He yelled out, casually punching out a goon in the process.

His battle crazed glee however dampened a little when he looked down another street to see another wave of thugs…and an armored car with guns and blades attached leading the pack.

Daisy took note and her spirits dropped (while also bashing a cat in the jaw who was trying to grope her.)  
"Oh no! Now we're in for it."  
"Like Hell we are!" Longcoat roared.

Quickly reaching behind his back, the superhero pulled out what looked like a massive bazooka and also a submachine gun.

"Alright you bastards, let me show my ultimate technique.  
"GIGA!  
"DRILL!

"BREAK!  
"LAUNCHAAAA!"  
Daisy didn't even know what to think as a giant drill larger than the gun itself fired out of the gun and smashed right into the car.

The car exploded when the drill hit and much to Daisy's own surprise the cats inside didn't die, rather getting thrown about.

Picking up on Daisy's confusion Longcoat added something "Safety shot, that and it was specially placed."  
Turning back to the angry mob he slid to the ground and shot up the knees of everyone in the front of the angry mob.

Perplexed further Daisy asked "Wh-what let you do that?"

"Fighting spirit!" Longcoat yelled out while pulling out a large flail "And some stuff I got from an alternate future. C'mon Snowflake, let's show these losers a better helping of it."  
Longcoat rushed forward into battle with a battlecry that could get him mistook for an ork. While Daisy was less battle crazed she shrugged and charged forth with a similar cry.

Clover however just continued to bite people's faces. And Paulo was currently trying to fight off somebody with a lead pipe…while Clover was biting his face.

Yeah, Paulo can't fight all that well.

Swan Hotel- 9:55 AM  
Lucy was a tad tired and pretty pissed, she'd had to run up a stairwell and beat up about fifty men on the way up.

Not to mention a little pit stop on the past five floors.

But now she was at the penthouse, and very soon Augustus would be in a body cast.

As she opened the doors, Lucy stormed right in.  
"AUGUSTUS!" She roared "GET OVER HERE!"  
The room was large and empty, resembling a Roman plaza with a semilarge fountain and a staircase on both sides. But in a few seconds Augustus walked out of the chamber near the top of the staircase. And he was followed shortly thereafter by Alejandro, Katie, Carter and Carson.  
Augustus had a wine glass in his hand and casually sipped it as he smirked towards her in contempt "Ever heard of something called hygiene?"  
Lucy was having enough of this and pointed towards him "Augustus you bastard! You've terrorized everyone in Roseville, you put me through hell, and you've done all this just to get your jollies. I'm going to beat the holy hell out of you once and for all!"  
"That may sound good on paper" Augustus said, sipping again "But you forgot my bodyguards. Are you going to beat them too?"  
Carter had had enough waiting and turned invisible. Lucy could hear the footsteps and snarled "Oh there's no way I wouldn't, I heard of what they did because of your tricks."  
She could hear a small grunt as Carter leaped and to the surprise of all present she raised back her fist and cleanly punched him right out of the air.  
"Like how Carter sliced up a bunch of firefighters on 9th street when they tried to put out a fire he started in an orphanage!"  
Carter turned visible after the blow but that wasn't all, the force caused his helmet to crack open and for him to fly right in the fountain.

Carson took the initiative and quickly drew his pistols at her, two bullets flew from his guns but Lucy quickly backflipped away from them.  
"Or how Carson shot a family and made them bleed to death?"  
Pulling a grenade from behind her back she hurled it at them. Carson's eyes widened behind his mask and he shot the bomb…but unfortunately for him it was already close enough to hit him.

The blast sent him flying backwards into a wall, knocking him out. Augustus and Katie were spared by hiding behind Alejandro.  
Augustus realized it'd be a good time to leave and gave orders to the others.

"You two hold her off, I have to attend to the machine."  
Zipping back inside the room, Alejandro roared furiously before leaping towards Lucy in a feral pounce.

Katie also jumped down, and as Lucy leapt out of Alejandro's grasp a massive Venus Flytrap burst through the floor.  
"Don't think you'll stop me" the Ice Queen hissed "You, Katie, you may have killed those innocents in the hospital earlier but you don't have a prayer of stopping me when mad."  
She nimbly dodged a hammer like blow from Alejandro's meaty fists as they slammed into the floor "What about me then chica? You couldn't even dream of stopping me."  
Lucy's mouth rose up in an absolute snarl "And YOU!" She howled "Are the absolute worst! I know what you've done, you've eaten babies, you've stomped pregnant women and raped God knows how many unfortunate souls in this Hell! Even if Heaven itself forgave you, I wouldn't! Not even if my own life depended on it!"  
Alejandro smirked as he leapt up into the air "Now that's more like it!"  
Lucy said nothing, rather pulling out a detonator of sorts "No it isn't."  
She pressed the button and a large explosion rocked the floor.  
"What was that?" The frightened Katie shrieked.  
Lucy leapt up just in time to avoid Alejandro's pounce "The past five floors collapsing, you seriously thought having the previous floor completely filled with dirt and seeds would save you?"  
As Alejandro hit the floor, he cracked it and through a quite small hole realized Lucy was right and the floor had vanished beneath them.

It was then that he noticed the hand grenade Lucy had left on the ground.

With an explosion, Alejandro slid through the floor and into a five story drop. And given both his weight and velocity he'd fall a lot further than that.

Katie, being of very little brain looked on in shock like a deer when it meets a car. Not noticing Lucy was coming out of the air until she'd stomped right on her, punching her out as she flew to the floor.

As everyone had been beat, Lucy stormed clean up the stairs and burst into the next room. And what she saw shocked her.

On the floor were two things, one was a large machine that Lucy guessed generated the force field.

The other was Sandy. Bound and gagged on the floor in her nanite based battlesuit.

Lucy looked at Sandy in surprise, before her very eyes lay on of the people responsible for her near suicide.

Sandy's helmet had been smashed open some time ago and as she looked up Lucy could detect a sense of fear, evidently Mike must have told her about Lucy's alter ego.

As she looked down, she heard a noise that sounded like both a jet turbine and a motorcycle engine revving up. Noticing a balcony the Ice Queen ran towards it just in time to see Augustus fly off in some kind of air traveling motorcycle.

Lucy saw a second one there and deduced that he obviously intended for her to follow, and against Lucy's better judgment she decided she'd do so.

After she dropped the forcefield, they'd need more people to control the riots.

Lucy walked right back in the room and was about to try and figure out how to turn the machine off, when she heard some muffled speech from Sandy.

She was about to ignore her when it occurred to her, Sandy might have seen how it operated and save her precious time.

Walking over to her rival (who was long time unaware of this) Lucy pulled the ball gag out of her mouth.

"How do you turn this off?" the white furred cat coldly asked, skipping any niceties.

Sandy was a little worried but replied "It can't, not through the controls. You have to destroy it. My suit told me."  
There was a moment of silence between the two as Lucy began to fish through hammerspace for some high explosives "Lucy…" Sandy began, struggling for words "I-I'm sorry."  
"About what?" the Ice Queen growled as she began to set the charges.

"About your trouble, I-I didn't intend for you get hurt."  
"It was your advice that caused this Sandy, and Mike's nothing more than a cold hearted bastard. You two deserve eachother."

"Lucy. I did tell him to confront you-"

"Aha!"  
"But I've been trying to get him to fix things with you the whole year."  
Lucy was confused "Huh?"  
"When Mike told me about how he called you out, I was furious. I was upset that you hit him but to be honest, he went too far with saying nobody loves you.  
"For the whole year I've been trying to get him to apologize, to try and fix the problem I started. But somehow when he did try he could never reach you, even when he did see you all you'd do is run from him.  
"I feel really bad about what happened, and Mike does too. Remember the night when he found out you were the Ice Queen?"  
"How could I not?" Lucy groaned.  
"When I saw him that night he was sobbing, sobbing without stopping at all, and when he told me what happened, how you threatened him;he really hurt you. And until then neither of us knew how much he did. I know it isn't equal to all the suffering you've had…

"But I'm sorry. I really am."  
Lucy was rarely awestruck or surprised these days but she was just plain blown away at this. She didn't realize this, she may have been aware that either Sandy or Mike was a bit sorry but she didn't think they were completely repentant.

As she stood there, Lucy looked at the chains binding Sandy and could instantly recognize them as the kind that used small electromagnets to restrain technology based criminals.

Lucy pulled out a buzzsaw from behind her back "Hold still" she said to the somewhat scared Sandy "This won't hurt a bit; I just need to free you."

Having reassured her, Lucy put the saw on the cuffs and began to tear them away. In a matter of minutes she freed the Golden Guardian from her binding.

As Sandy stood up Lucy turned back to the machine "Where's Mike?" She asked as she began to attach the timer to the plastic explosives she'd planted.

"I don't know but Augustus took him earlier, just before he left I overheard him saying that 'A man should die in his home'"

Lucy stopped a second "He's going to kill him" she said, a sense of dread coming over her.

The Ice Queen ran off towards the balcony "Activate the timer and handle the riots. I'll get Augustus."  
"Lucy!" Sandy cried out.  
The grey clad guardian turned to see her saddened face "Please" she asked "Please make sure he's safe."

"I will" Lucy said as she ran back to the other sky-cycle.

Finding an ignition key within it, our heroine turned it on and prepared to fly out.

Augustus was finished. He may have realized it but come Hell or high water she would ensure he'd pay for his evil, now more than ever."


End file.
